Jacoba Fransisca Maria "Cobie" Smulders was born on April 3rd, 1982, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Initially, Cobie Smulders' career ambitions were in medicine and marine biology, but acting became one of her favorite pastimes once she started appearing in school productions at Lord Byng Secondary School. She also kept herself busy in sports by regularly playing tennis and soccer.
Blessed with good looks, Cobie Smulders also drew interest from the modeling community and, after landing a professional contract overseas, her work took her to destinations like Greece, Japan, Italy, Africa, and Germany. Despite her busy schedule, Smulders still completed high school on time and with an honors distinction in 2000. More keen to act rather than model, Smulders opted to try her hand as an actress.
cobie smulders stars in veritas: the quest and the l word
After high school, Cobie Smulders began acting professionally in a number of television series that were filmed in her hometown. Her first two TV appearances came in 2002 on a pair of sci-fi programs: UPN's Special Unit 2 and the Luke Perry-led Jeremiah. Just a year later, Smulders guest-starred on Tru Calling and landed a lead role as Juliet Droil on the adventure series, Veritas: The Quest. Unfortunately, the series was canceled after only 13 episodes.
Cobie Smulders pressed on, getting valuable film exposure with a bit part in Walking Tall (starring The Rock) and a supporting role in the Canadian-made Ill Fated. In 2005, after having guest-starred on Smallville and Andromeda, Smulders enjoyed a recurring role in The L Word as Leigh Ostin, a photographer who attracts Jennifer Beals.
cobie smulders stars on how i met your mother and the slammin' salmon
In the fall of 2005, Cobie Smulders found her breakout role playing Robin Scherbatzky, a former Canadian teen singer who hooks up with Ted (Josh Radnor) on the CBS sitcom, How I Met Your Mother. Joining a cast that already included Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segel, Smulders attracted a strong fan following of her own, as viewers were kept in suspense as to whether Robin was the "mother" of the title.
Currently enjoying the benefits of a long-running television series, Cobie Smulders is still finding time to pursue other acting projects on the side. In 2005, she starred in The Long Weekend, which was top-lined by Chris Klein. In 2009, she will star as Tara in The Slammin' Salmon, a restaurant-set comedy starring Michael Clarke Duncan, produced by the Broken Lizard comedy group (Beer Fest and Super Troopers).