Cobie Smulders: The Life Story Behind How I Met Your Mother's Star

A Vancouver Girl Who Was Discovered by Chance

Cobie Smulders was born Jacoba Francisca Maria Smulders in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on 3 April 1982, to a Dutch father and an English mother, and she grew up in a household where two cultures, Dutch and English, were part of everyday life, and where the arts were valued, though acting was not the plan, because Cobie, as a teenager, wanted to be a marine biologist, a scientist who studied the ocean, which is a dream that seems far from Hollywood, yet it says something about her, that she was curious, that she loved nature, and that she was not drawn to fame for its own sake, but to knowledge, which is a quality that has stayed with her throughout her career, because she has always been thoughtful, curious and interested in the world beyond the set. Vancouver in the 1990s was a city on Canada’s west coast, known for its mountains, its ocean and its film industry, because many American television shows and films were shot there, and a girl growing up in Vancouver could see film crews on her street, which is a reminder that the industry was close, even if it seemed distant, and Cobie, who was tall, athletic and striking, was discovered by a modelling scout as a teenager, while she was still at school, and began modelling, travelling to Paris, Tokyo and other cities, which is an experience that many young women have, and that few enjoy, because modelling is a demanding, often lonely life, and Cobie, who has spoken about it with candour, found that she did not love it, that she missed home, and that she wanted to do something else, which led her to acting, because a modelling agent suggested she take acting classes, and the classes, which were meant to help her modelling, revealed a talent for performance that she had not known she possessed, which is a story that many actors tell, that they discovered acting by accident, and that the accident became a career, which is exactly what happened to Cobie, who went from a marine biology dream to a modelling career to an acting class, and then, to a television show that would make her famous around the world.

Her early acting work was in Canadian television, in small roles that taught her the craft, and in 2005 she took a role that introduced her to American audiences, in the series The L Word, and in Veritas: The Quest, a short-lived ABC series, yet the role that would change her life came in the same year, 2005, when she was cast as Robin Scherbatsky in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, a show about a group of friends in New York, told in flashback by Ted Mosby, played by Josh Radnor, who is telling his children how he met their mother, and Robin was a Canadian news anchor, a former teen pop star in Canada, a woman who was ambitious, funny, independent and afraid of commitment, and Cobie played her with a warmth, a humour and a vulnerability that made Robin one of the most loved characters on television, because the audience could see, in Robin, a woman who was trying to have a career and a life, and who was not always sure how to do both, which is a story that many viewers recognised in their own lives. How I Met Your Mother ran for nine seasons, from 2005 to 2014, with 208 episodes, and it became one of the most popular sitcoms in American television history, watched by millions of viewers, and Cobie’s Robin, who was the only non-American in the group, became a fan favourite, because her Canadian identity, her past as a pop star, Robin Sparkles, and her relationship with Barney Stinson, played by Neil Patrick Harris, and with Ted, were among the show’s most memorable storylines, and the show’s success made Cobie a star, not only in Canada and the United States, but around the world, because the show was broadcast in many countries, and the audience, who had discovered her as Robin, followed her to her next roles, which is a reminder that a sitcom, when it is good, can make an actor famous in a way that few other mediums can, because the audience invites the characters into their homes, week after week, for years, and the actors become part of the family, which is exactly what happened to Cobie, who became Robin Scherbatsky to millions of people, and who has carried that identity, with pride, ever since, even as she has played many other characters, because Robin is the role that defined her, and that she will always be associated with, which is both a gift and a burden, a gift because it made her famous, and a burden because it made it harder for people to see her as anyone else, which is a struggle that Cobie has fought, by taking roles that are different from Robin, and by proving, again and again, that she can be more than one character.

While How I Met Your Mother was running, Cobie took film roles that showed her range, and each of them added to the audience that had discovered her as Robin. In 2012 she was cast as Maria Hill, a high-ranking agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., in The Avengers, the Marvel film that brought together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, and Maria Hill was a character who was competent, calm and professional, a woman who could hold her own among superheroes, and Cobie played her with a authority that made the audience believe that Maria Hill was a person who could run a spy agency, which is a remarkable achievement, because the Marvel films are full of larger-than-life characters, and a human agent, without superpowers, must be played with a groundedness that makes her feel real, and Cobie provided it, which is why Maria Hill became a recurring character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014, Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015, Avengers: Infinity War in 2018, Avengers: Endgame in 2019, Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019, and the Disney+ series Secret Invasion in 2023, as well as in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is a run of more than a decade, and a testament to Cobie’s performance, because Marvel does not keep a character for a decade unless the actor is good, and the audience loves her, which is exactly what happened with Maria Hill, who became one of the most respected supporting characters in the MCU, not because she had superpowers, but because she had competence, and Cobie played that competence with a quiet confidence that made Maria Hill feel like a real person, not a plot device, which is a skill that few actors possess, and that Cobie has in abundance.

Robin Scherbatsky, Maria Hill and the Marvel Years

How I Met Your Mother deserves a closer look, because it is not only Cobie Smulders’s most famous work but one of the most important sitcoms of its era, and the reasons for its success are worth understanding. The show’s premise, a father telling his children how he met their mother, was a clever one, because it allowed the show to tell stories out of order, to use flashbacks, to mislead the audience, and to keep them guessing for nine seasons, which is a narrative trick that few sitcoms attempt, and that How I Met Your Mother executed with a skill that made it a phenomenon, because the audience, who had to wait nine years to learn who the mother was, stayed loyal, even when the show’s later seasons were criticised, because they had invested in the characters, and the characters, particularly Robin, were worth investing in. Robin Scherbatsky was a character who was Canadian, who had been a teen pop star, Robin Sparkles, in Canada, with hits like Let’s Go to the Mall, and who had come to New York to be a news anchor, and Cobie played her with a humour that came from her own Canadian identity, because she understood what it meant to be a Canadian in America, to be an outsider who is also an insider, and that understanding gave Robin a authenticity that the audience recognised, because the jokes about Canada, about Robin Sparkles, and about Robin’s past, were funny, yet they were also affectionate, because the show loved Robin, and Cobie loved playing her, which is why the character lasted for nine seasons, and why the audience, when the show ended in 2014, felt as if they were losing a friend, which is a testament to Cobie’s performance, and to the show’s writing, which gave Robin storylines that were funny, sad and real, often in the same episode, which is a rare achievement in a sitcom, and one that How I Met Your Mother managed, because it trusted its audience, and its actors, to handle complexity, which is a trust that Cobie repaid, with a performance that is still remembered, and still loved, by fans who quote Robin’s lines, who sing Let’s Go to the Mall, and who consider Robin Scherbatsky one of the great sitcom characters of all time.

Her Marvel work as Maria Hill deserves attention too, because it is a different kind of acting from a sitcom, and it shows a different side of Cobie’s talent, the side that is serious, professional and authoritative, which is a quality that the Marvel films require, because the world they depict is fantastical, and the human characters must ground it, or the audience will not believe it. Maria Hill first appeared in The Avengers in 2012, as the deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D., working for Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson, and Cobie played her as a woman who was calm under pressure, who could make decisions quickly, and who was not intimidated by superheroes, which is a difficult thing to play, because the actor must convey authority without shouting, and Cobie did it with a stillness, a precision and a confidence that made Maria Hill feel like a real leader, not a caricature, which is why the character was brought back, again and again, in films and in television, for more than a decade, which is a longevity that few Marvel supporting characters achieve, and that Cobie earned through her performance, because Marvel’s producers, who are famously careful about casting, would not have kept her if she had not delivered, which she did, in every appearance, from The Avengers to Secret Invasion, where Maria Hill’s death, in the first episode, shocked audiences, because they had invested in the character for eleven years, and her death felt like a real loss, which is a testament to Cobie’s work, because a character whose death matters is a character who lived, and Maria Hill lived, for more than a decade, in Cobie’s hands, which is an achievement that few actresses can claim, and one that Cobie is proud of, because it showed that she could be part of the biggest film franchise in history, and hold her own, without superpowers, without a costume, only with competence, which is a superpower in itself.

Her film work after How I Met Your Mother included Safe Haven in 2013, a romantic drama based on Nicholas Sparks’s novel, in which she played Jo, a neighbour, and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back in 2016, an action thriller starring Tom Cruise, in which she played Major Susan Turner, a military officer who is framed and must clear her name with Reacher’s help, and the role required Cobie to perform action scenes, to handle weapons, and to play a character who was both a soldier and a woman, which is a physical and emotional challenge, and she met it, because her performance as Turner was praised for its toughness and its warmth, which is a combination that few actresses can manage, and that Cobie managed with ease, because she understood that Turner was not only a soldier but a person, a woman who had been betrayed, who was angry, and who was determined to prove her innocence, which is a story that the audience recognised, and that Cobie played with a conviction that made Turner one of the film’s most memorable characters, even in a film that starred Tom Cruise, which is a considerable achievement, because Cruise is one of the biggest stars in the world, and an actress who can hold her own opposite him is an actress who is doing something right, which is exactly what Cobie did, in Jack Reacher, and in her other films, which is why directors continue to cast her, because they know she will deliver, which is the highest compliment an industry can pay an actor, that it trusts her, and that trust, which Cobie earned, has never left her.

Stumptown, Friends From College and Life After the Sitcom

After How I Met Your Mother ended in 2014, Cobie took roles in television that showed her range, and each of them was a deliberate choice, to play characters who were different from Robin, and to prove that she could be more than one person, which is a challenge that every sitcom star faces, because the audience associates them with a single character, and the actor must work hard to break that association, which Cobie did, by taking roles in drama, in comedy and in action, often in the same year. In 2017 she appeared in Friends from College, a Netflix comedy series about a group of Harvard graduates in New York, in which she played Lisa Turner, a lawyer, and the series, though it ran for only two seasons, gave Cobie a role in a prestige streaming comedy, with a cast that included Keegan-Michael Key, Fred Savage and Nat Faxon, and it showed that she could play a character who was mature, professional and funny, which is a different kind of comedy from How I Met Your Mother, because Friends from College was darker, more adult, and more cynical, yet Cobie played Lisa with a warmth that made the character feel real, even in a show that was often cruel, which is a skill that few actresses possess, because it requires the actor to find the humanity in a character who is not always likeable, and Cobie found it, which is why Lisa, though she was not the show’s centre, was one of its most interesting characters. In 2019 she took the lead in Stumptown, an ABC drama series based on a comic book, in which she played Dex Parios, a private investigator in Portland, Oregon, a former Marine with PTSD, who is tough, funny and damaged, and the role required Cobie to play a character who was both a hero and a mess, a woman who drank too much, who gambled, who made bad decisions, yet who was also brave, loyal and good, which is a complex character, and one that Cobie played with a skill that earned her praise, because Dex was a departure from Robin, a character who was not a sitcom heroine but a noir detective, and the show, though it was cancelled after one season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, showed that Cobie could carry a drama as a leading woman, which is a achievement that matters, because it proved that she was not only a sitcom star but an actress who could do anything, and that the industry, which had typecast her as Robin, was wrong to do so, because Cobie Smulders is more than Robin, and Stumptown was the proof, even if the show itself did not last, which is a pity, because Dex Parios deserved more seasons, and Cobie deserved the chance to play her longer, which is a feeling that many viewers shared, when the show was cancelled, and that Cobie herself has spoken about, with a mixture of sadness and gratitude, because the show gave her a role she loved, even if it was brief.

Her personal life has been as significant as her professional life, and the way she has handled it is part of her story, because at the age of twenty-five, in 2007, while How I Met Your Mother was in its early seasons, Cobie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, a diagnosis that could have ended her career, and her life, yet she faced it with a courage and a privacy that deserves respect, because she underwent surgery, including the removal of parts of her reproductive system, and chemotherapy, and she continued to work, telling only a few people, and the public did not learn about her illness until years later, when she spoke about it in interviews, with a honesty that surprised audiences, because she had kept it private, not as a secret but as a personal matter, and her decision to speak about it, when she was ready, helped other women who faced the same diagnosis, because it showed that a person could survive ovarian cancer, could continue to work, and could have a family, which is a message of hope that many women needed to hear, and that Cobie, by telling her story, provided, which is a form of generosity that the public respects, even when they do not share the experience, because sincerity, when it is real, is recognised by everyone. She married the actor and comedian Taran Killam in 2012, and they have two daughters, Shaelyn, born in 2009, and Janita, born in 2015, and the family lives in Los Angeles, keeping their private life largely private, which is a choice that Cobie has made carefully, because she knows the cost of growing up in public, and she wants her children to have the childhood she had in Vancouver, ordinary, outdoors and free, which is a wisdom that many celebrities lack, and that Cobie, who faced cancer at twenty-five, has in abundance, because she understands what matters, and what does not, and that understanding, which comes from experience, is the foundation of her career, and of her life, which is a story worth telling, because it shows that a person can face the worst, and come through it, with grace, with humour, and with a determination to keep working, which is exactly what Cobie Smulders has done, for nearly twenty years, and counting.

What the Career Adds Up To

Looked at as a whole, Cobie Smulders’s career has a shape that is easy to miss if you only remember Robin, because it is the shape of a person who began as a girl in Vancouver who wanted to be a marine biologist, became a model, became an actress, played Robin Scherbatsky for nine seasons, became Maria Hill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for more than a decade, survived ovarian cancer at twenty-five, became a mother, and is still, in her forties, working, acting and telling stories, and who did it all with the same warmth, the same humour and the same professionalism, which is why she has lasted while other actresses have faded. She has played Robin, Maria Hill, Susan Turner, Dex Parios and Lisa Turner, and each of those characters was different, yet each of them was played with the same honesty, the same competence and the same belief that a character, however small, has a life, which is a philosophy that has guided her career for nearly twenty years. The through-line is not fame but resilience, because Cobie Smulders has survived cancer, typecasting, and the end of a beloved sitcom, and she has survived them all by continuing to work, to act, and to be herself, which is a form of strength that deserves respect, and that is a story worth telling, because it shows that a woman who is underestimated can prove the world wrong, one role at a time, for nearly twenty years, and counting, which is a legacy that few actresses achieve, and that Cobie has achieved, by being herself, in a world that wanted her to be only Robin, which is a triumph, and one that she has earned, through talent, hard work and a deep sense of who she is.

The Actress Behind Robin Sparkles

There is one more part of Cobie Smulders’s story that deserves attention, and it is the way she has handled being Robin Scherbatsky, because the character, with her Canadian identity, her past as Robin Sparkles, and her relationships, became so famous that the audience often confused Cobie with Robin, and the confusion, though it was flattering, was also limiting, because it made it harder for people to see Cobie as anyone else, which is a struggle that every sitcom star faces, and that Cobie has fought, by taking roles like Maria Hill, Susan Turner and Dex Parios, which are nothing like Robin, and by proving, again and again, that she can be more than one character, which is a achievement that deserves recognition, because the actress who can play Robin and Maria Hill, who can be funny and serious, who can be a sitcom star and a Marvel agent, is an actress who cannot be limited, and the industry, which loves to limit actresses, has failed to limit Cobie, which is a triumph in itself. Her performance as Robin Sparkles, the teen pop star, is a good example, because the songs, Let’s Go to the Mall and Sandcastles in the Sand, became hits in their own right, with fans singing them at conventions, and Cobie, who is not a professional singer, performed them with a commitment that made them funny, because she understood that Robin Sparkles was a joke, yet she played it seriously, which is the key to comedy, to play the joke as if it is real, and Cobie did, which is why Robin Sparkles is still remembered, and still loved, by fans who consider it one of the best running gags in sitcom history, and that is a legacy that Cobie can be proud of, because it shows that she can be funny, even when she is singing a silly pop song, which is a skill that few actresses possess, and that Cobie has in abundance.

A Career of Quiet Strength

Cobie Smulders’s career is a career of quiet strength, because she has faced cancer, typecasting and the pressures of fame, and she has faced them with a calm, a dignity and a determination that is easy to miss, because it does not make headlines, yet it is the strength that has kept her working for nearly twenty years, while other actresses have burned out. She has also been a role model for women who have faced ovarian cancer, because her decision to speak about her illness, when she was ready, helped other women to feel less alone, and that generosity, which is easy to overlook, is part of her legacy, because the actress who uses her fame to help others is an actress who understands that fame is not only about herself, but about the people who look to her, and Cobie, who has always been thoughtful, understands that, which is why her story matters, not only as an actress, but as a person, who faced the worst, and came through it, with grace, with humour, and with a determination to keep working, which is exactly what she has done, for nearly twenty years, and counting, one role at a time, from Vancouver to New York to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and back again, which is a story worth telling, because it shows that quiet strength, when it is real, is recognised by the audience, and that the audience, though it may judge, can also admire, if the work continues to be good, which is exactly what Cobie Smulders’s work has been, for nearly twenty years.

My Take:

When I look at Cobie Smulders’s career, the first thing that strikes me is the range, because she has played Robin Scherbatsky, a sitcom heroine, Maria Hill, a Marvel agent, Susan Turner, a soldier, and Dex Parios, a private investigator, and each of those characters was different, yet each of them felt real, which is a rare achievement, because most actresses are good at one kind of character and spend their lives repeating it, while Cobie has been good at many kinds and has kept finding new ones. I think her most important decision was the decision to take How I Met Your Mother, because it was a sitcom that could easily have typecast her forever, as Robin, yet she took it, and the show ran for nine seasons, which gave her a global audience, a steady income and a platform, and the fact that she stayed with it for nine years, rather than leaving early, shows a loyalty and a professionalism that the industry respects, because many actors leave a hit show early, thinking they can do better, and they are often wrong, while Cobie stayed, and the show’s success, which lasted for nine years, is partly due to her commitment to it. Robin Scherbatsky was a character who was Canadian, funny, independent and afraid of commitment, and Cobie played her with a warmth, a humour and a vulnerability that made Robin one of the most loved characters on television, because the audience could see, in Robin, a woman who was trying to have a career and a life, and who was not always sure how to do both, which is a story that many viewers recognised in their own lives, and that recognition, which is the foundation of all good sitcoms, is why Robin lasted for nine seasons, and why the audience, when the show ended, felt as if they were losing a friend.

The Maria Hill performance deserves a closer look, because it is a different kind of acting from a sitcom, and it shows a different side of Cobie’s talent, the side that is serious, professional and authoritative, which is a quality that the Marvel films require, because the world they depict is fantastical, and the human characters must ground it, or the audience will not believe it. I notice that Maria Hill first appeared in The Avengers in 2012, as the deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Cobie played her as a woman who was calm under pressure, who could make decisions quickly, and who was not intimidated by superheroes, which is a difficult thing to play, because the actor must convey authority without shouting, and Cobie did it with a stillness, a precision and a confidence that made Maria Hill feel like a real leader, not a caricature, which is why the character was brought back, again and again, for more than a decade, in films and in television, which is a longevity that few Marvel supporting characters achieve, and that Cobie earned through her performance, because Marvel’s producers would not have kept her if she had not delivered, which she did, in every appearance, from The Avengers to Secret Invasion, where Maria Hill’s death shocked audiences, because they had invested in the character for eleven years, and her death felt like a real loss, which is a testament to Cobie’s work, because a character whose death matters is a character who lived, and Maria Hill lived, for more than a decade, in Cobie’s hands.

What I admire most about Cobie Smulders is the resilience, because she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at twenty-five, in 2007, while How I Met Your Mother was in its early seasons, and she faced it with a courage and a privacy that deserves respect, because she underwent surgery and chemotherapy, and she continued to work, telling only a few people, and the public did not learn about her illness until years later, when she spoke about it with a honesty that surprised audiences, because she had kept it private, not as a secret but as a personal matter, and her decision to speak about it, when she was ready, helped other women who faced the same diagnosis, because it showed that a person could survive ovarian cancer, could continue to work, and could have a family, which is a message of hope that many women needed to hear. I also think her work in Stumptown matters, because Dex Parios was a character who was tough, funny and damaged, a private investigator with PTSD, and Cobie played her with a skill that earned her praise, because Dex was a departure from Robin, a character who was not a sitcom heroine but a noir detective, and the show, though it was cancelled after one season due to the pandemic, showed that Cobie could carry a drama as a leading woman, which is an achievement that matters, because it proved that she was not only a sitcom star but an actress who could do anything. There are limits to what she has done, and I should name them, because she has not yet had a leading role in a major Hollywood film, and her film career, though it includes Jack Reacher and Safe Haven, has been a series of supporting roles rather than leading roles in blockbusters, which means the question of whether she can carry a film on her own remains open, yet the fact that she carried How I Met Your Mother for nine seasons and Stumptown for one suggests that she can, and that the industry simply has not given her the chance, which is a failure of the industry, not of the actress.

For young actresses, Cobie Smulders’s career is a useful map, because it shows that the way to survive is to be versatile, to work in sitcoms and in Marvel films, in drama and in comedy, in television and in film, and to do each of them well, because versatility is insurance against the changes in the industry. Her path, from Vancouver to modelling to How I Met Your Mother to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a path that many actresses have taken, and the lesson of it is that the training matters, the small roles matter, and the willingness to take a risk on a character like Maria Hill matters, because the risky role may become the defining work of your life, or at least, a significant part of it, which is exactly what Maria Hill became, a character who lasted for more than a decade, and who gave Cobie a global audience that How I Met Your Mother alone could not have given her. My honest view is that Cobie Smulders is one of the most reliable and likeable actresses working today, and that her career, taken as a whole, is stronger than any single role in it, because it is the story of a girl from Vancouver who became Robin, Maria Hill and Dex, and who survived cancer, and who is still, in her forties, working, acting and telling stories, which is a story worth remembering. The work continues, and the next chapter, whether it is a new series, a new film or a new Marvel appearance, will probably be as surprising as the last one, because Cobie Smulders has never done the expected thing twice, and she is still, in her forties, learning, growing and surprising audiences who thought they knew what she could do.

One more thing about Cobie Smulders deserves to be said, and it is the way she has handled fame, because she became famous slowly, one season at a time, and slow fame is healthier than sudden fame, because it gives the actress time to learn who she is before the world tells her who she should be. She has never been a tabloid figure, she has never courted controversy, and she has never seemed to need the audience’s love in order to feel valuable, and that steadiness is a form of strength that is easy to miss because it does not make headlines. I think her family life matters too, because she has been married to Taran Killam since 2012, and they have two daughters, and the family lives a life that is deliberately private, despite the fame of both parents, which is a choice that Cobie has made carefully, because she knows the cost of growing up in public, and she wants her children to have the childhood she had in Vancouver, ordinary, outdoors and free. The story of Cobie Smulders is, in the end, a story about a girl who wanted to be a marine biologist, who became a model, who became an actress, and who became Robin, Maria Hill and Dex, and who did it all without losing herself, which is a story worth telling, because it shows that a career can be built on curiosity, on versatility and on resilience, and that those qualities, though they do not make headlines, are the ones that last.

Finally, I want to say something about Robin Sparkles, because it is the part of How I Met Your Mother that fans love most, and it deserves to be remembered not only as a joke but as a performance, because Cobie, who is not a professional singer, performed Let’s Go to the Mall and Sandcastles in the Sand with a commitment that made them funny, because she understood that Robin Sparkles was a joke, yet she played it seriously, which is the key to comedy, to play the joke as if it is real, and Cobie did, which is why Robin Sparkles is still remembered, and still loved, by fans who consider it one of the best running gags in sitcom history. My honest view is that her career is not finished, and that the best of it may still be ahead, because the roles for women in their forties, the mothers, the leaders, the detectives, are the roles she was born to play, and the warmth, humour and resilience she brings to them will make them memorable, long after the shows themselves have ended. When those roles come, the story will change again, and Robin will become something else, and that is a story worth waiting for, because it is the story of a person becoming herself in public, one role at a time, for nearly twenty years, and counting.

I also want to reflect on her cancer story, because it is the part of her life that is hardest to write about, and most important to understand, because being diagnosed with ovarian cancer at twenty-five, while starring in a hit sitcom, is a crisis that could have ended a career, yet Cobie faced it with a privacy and a courage that deserves respect, and her decision to speak about it years later, when she was ready, helped other women, because it showed that survival is possible, that work can continue, and that a family can be built, even after a diagnosis that once felt like an ending. I think that honesty, which came when she was ready, not when the press demanded it, is a sign of a woman who understands that her story belongs to her, and that telling it is a choice, not an obligation, which is a wisdom that many celebrities lack, because they feel pressured to share everything, while Cobie shared what she chose, when she chose, and that choice, which was hers, is a form of power, and one that other women, facing similar diagnoses, can learn from, because it says that you do not owe the world your pain, but that sharing it, when you are ready, can help others, which is a generous act, and one that Cobie performed with grace.

One last thought on Cobie Smulders concerns her Canadian identity, because she was born in Vancouver, raised in Canada, and became a star in America, yet she has never lost her Canadian humour, which is dry, self-deprecating and polite, even when it is sarcastic, and that humour, which is distinctively Canadian, is part of what made Robin Scherbatsky work, because Robin was a Canadian in New York, and Cobie, who is a Canadian in Los Angeles, understood that experience from the inside, which is why the jokes about Canada felt affectionate, not mocking, because they came from a person who loves Canada, and who is proud to be Canadian, even while working in America. I believe her legacy will include that Canadian identity, as well as her roles, because she has shown that a Canadian actress can succeed in Hollywood without ceasing to be Canadian, and that is a story that should encourage any young person from a small place who dreams of a bigger stage, because the distance, which once seemed impossible, turns out to have been crossable all along, by a girl from Vancouver who wanted to be a marine biologist, and who became Robin, Maria Hill and Dex, one role at a time.

Finally, I think Cobie Smulders’s story offers a lesson about resilience, because she has survived cancer, typecasting and the end of a beloved sitcom, and she has survived them all by continuing to work, to act, and to be herself, which is a form of strength that deserves respect, and that is a story worth telling, because it shows that a woman who is underestimated can prove the world wrong, one role at a time, for nearly twenty years, and counting, which is a legacy that few actresses achieve, and that Cobie has achieved, by being herself, in a world that wanted her to be only Robin, which is a triumph, and one that she has earned, through talent, hard work and a deep sense of who she is, from Vancouver to New York to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and back again, one quiet, strong performance at a time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was Cobie Smulders born?

Cobie Smulders was born Jacoba Francisca Maria Smulders in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on 3 April 1982, to a Dutch father and an English mother. As a teenager she wanted to be a marine biologist before being discovered as a model.

Who did Cobie Smulders play in How I Met Your Mother?

She played Robin Scherbatsky, a Canadian news anchor and former teen pop star known as Robin Sparkles, in How I Met Your Mother, which ran on CBS from 2005 to 2014 for nine seasons and 208 episodes.

Who does Cobie Smulders play in Marvel?

She plays Maria Hill, a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, first appearing in The Avengers (2012) and returning in films including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Endgame and the series Secret Invasion (2023).

What is Robin Sparkles?

Robin Sparkles was Robin Scherbatsky’s teen pop star persona in Canada, with songs including Let’s Go to the Mall and Sandcastles in the Sand, a running joke in How I Met Your Mother.

Who did Cobie Smulders play in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back?

She played Major Susan Turner, a military officer framed for a crime, in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016), opposite Tom Cruise.

What is Stumptown?

Stumptown (2019-2020) is an ABC drama series in which Cobie Smulders played Dex Parios, a private investigator in Portland, Oregon, and a former Marine with PTSD. It was cancelled after one season.

What happened to Cobie Smulders at age 25?

At twenty-five, in 2007, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy while continuing to work on How I Met Your Mother, and spoke publicly about it years later.

Who is Cobie Smulders married to?

She married the actor and comedian Taran Killam in 2012. They have two daughters, Shaelyn (born 2009) and Janita (born 2015).