Early life

Smulders was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to a Dutch father and an English mother. She was named after her great-aunt, from whom she gained the nickname "Cobie". Smulders describes herself as "a fluent listener" of French.

Smulders worked in modeling, which she later said she "kind of hated", adding that the experience made her hesitant about pursuing acting as a career: "You know you go into these rooms, and I've had the experience of people judging you physically for so long and I was over that. But then it was like, 'Oh no, I have to actually perform. I have to do well, and I have to have a voice, and I have to have thoughts now.'"

As a youth, Smulders aspired to be a marine biologist. Describing her transition to her eventual professions, she said,

I studied acting throughout high school, then modeling took over because it brought more opportunity. When I quit modeling, coming back to Vancouver, I registered at the University of Victoria. At the same time, that summer, I was taking acting classes and decided to give that a year or two instead of going back to school. I always wanted to go back to school. I was looking into taking some classes part-time, but marine biology involves a lot of lab time.

Acting career

Smulders' first acting role was as a guest in the Showtime science fiction series Jeremiah, and she has appeared in several television series since, including a recurring role on The L Word. Her first permanent series role was in the short-lived ABC series Veritas: The Quest, which ran for one season. After the cancellation of Veritas, Smulders was cast as television reporter Robin Scherbatsky on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother in 2005, remaining on the show for its entire nine-season run.

In June 2010, Smulders made her Off-Broadway debut in Love, Loss, and What I Wore at The Westside Theatre.

Smulders played Maria Hill in the 2012 film The Avengers. She received training from a Los Angeles SWAT team trainer to handle guns in order to portray the character. Smulders reprised the role in two episodes of the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and in the films Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Joss Whedon has suggested he had considered her for the role of Wonder Woman in his draft of the eponymous film, which did not go into production. Smulders did voice a Lego version of Wonder Woman in the 2014 animated film The Lego Movie. It was the first time the Wonder Woman character had a theatrical film appearance.

In 2013, Smulders had a supporting role in the romance film Safe Haven. She also starred in the comedy-drama Delivery Man and They Came Together. In July 2015, it was reported that Smulders had exited the made-for-TV film Confirmation because she had broken her leg; Zoe Lister-Jones was then confirmed to replace her in the role of Harriet Grant.

Charitable endeavours

She filmed a PSA with Oceana, an international ocean conservation organization, in 2014.

Personal life

Smulders and American actor and comedian Taran Killam became engaged in January 2009. They married on September 8, 2012, in Solvang, California. The couple reside in New York City, New York. They have two daughters; their first, Shaelyn, was born May 16, 2009, and their second, whose name has not been revealed, was born in January 2015.

In 2015, Smulders revealed she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 25, while shooting season three of How I Met Your Mother. She had surgery to remove two tumors from her ovaries, but the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, resulting in the need for multiple surgeries over the course of two years.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Walking Tall	Eye candy
2004	Ill Fated	Mary
2005	The Long Weekend	Ellen
2006	Escape	Psychotic brunette	Short film
2006	Dr. Miracles	Mrs. Peterson	Short film
2007	28 Weeks Later	Martina	Short film
2007	The Storm Awaits	Anabella DeLorenzo	Short film
2009	The Slammin' Salmon	Tara
2012	The Avengers	Maria Hill
2012	Grassroots	Clair
2013	Safe Haven	Carly Jo Wheatley
2013	Delivery Man	Emma
2014	The Lego Movie	Wonder Woman	Voice
2014	They Came Together	Tiffany
2014	Captain America: The Winter Soldier	Maria Hill
2015	Unexpected	Samantha Abbot
2015	Results	Kat
2015	Avengers: Age of Ultron	Maria Hill
2016	The Intervention	Ruby
2016	Jack Reacher: Never Go Back		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Special Unit 2	Zoe	Episode: "The Wish"
2002	Jeremiah	Deborah	Episode: "Thieves' Honor"
2003	Tru Calling	Sarah Webb	Episode: "Brother's Keeper"
2003-2004	Veritas: The Quest	Juliet Droil	13 episodes
2004	Smallville	Shannon Bell/Eve Andrews	Episode: "Bound"
2005	Andromeda	Jillian Rhade	2 episodes
2005	The L Word	Leigh Ostin	4 episodes
2005-2014	How I Met Your Mother	Robin Scherbatsky	208 episodes
2010	How to Make It in America	Hayley	Episode: "Pilot"
2013-2015	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	Maria Hill	3 episodes
2013	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Herself	Episode: "Cobie Smulders Wears a Black & White Strapless Dress"
2016	Animals.	Anni	Voice; Episode: "Flies."

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Love, Loss, and What I Wore	Principal character	June 10, 2010 - June 26, 2010 Westside Theatre

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2013	EWwy Award	Best Supporting Actress - Comedy	How I Met Your Mother	Won
2014	People's Choice Award	Favorite TV Gal Pals		Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]