Biography
Jacoba Francisca Maria "Cobie" Smulders (born April 3, 1982) is a Canadian actress and former model, known for her current role as Robin Scherbatsky on the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother and Maria Hill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 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 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'". After she quit modeling, she registered at the University of Victoria to study marine biology. During the summer, she took acting classes and decided to pursu