I have watched 'How I Met Your Mother' for years. It was strange to see Cobie Smulders in an action movie like The Avengers. What was it like for her?
—George Bowen, Reno, Nev.
“It means there are a lot more action figures in our house,” jokes Smulders, who plays the Marvel Comics character agent Maria Hill, former director of the planetary defense/intelligence service S.H.I.E.L.D. “I think we have all [the superheroes], and my daughter knows all of their names. But, it was very cool to be a woman in a man’s world in this film, and then have my daughter see that.”
It also fulfilled Smulders’ desire to work with writer/director Joss Whedon, who is best known for his sci-fi series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' 'Angel' and 'Firefly,' and who years ago had considered Smulders for the lead in a never-made film based on Wonder Woman.
“I was very much a newbie, coming in,” admits the 30-year-old actress, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia. “When I got to do a scene which included most of the guys, and I got to see everybody sitting at the table for the first time, I had to stand back.”
Still, going from a half-hour comedy TV show to an action film took a period of adjustment. “In terms of schedule, it’s very different,” she says. “I’m very blessed at 'How I Met Your Mother.' We have a very nice schedule. This was very good, but we had a lot of stunts to do and a lot of fun things to explode. I made it a point to do a lot of training to prepare myself for this role, especially with weapons, mainly to get myself comfortable using them.”
