Tragic Details About How I Met Your Mother Star Cobie Smulders

Cobie Smulders has played a news anchor, a teenage popstar, and a proud Canadian — and that's only as Robin Scherbatsky on "How I Met Your Mother." The CBS sitcom following Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) as he tells his two kids how he met their mother introduces plenty of characters, including one of his most important girlfriends and friends in Robin. The show put Smulders on the map, letting her not only show off her comedic chops but play someone she shared something with, since she's also Canadian. 

While the ending of "How I Met Your Mother" left much to be desired for fans (particularly when it came to Robin's journey), it cemented Smulders in Hollywood. She's done plenty since then, from playing conservative columnist and pundit Ann Coulter in "Impeachment: American Crime Story" and Mrs. Quagmire in Netflix's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" to continuing her tenure as Maria Hill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She even made a guest appearance in the spin-off series "How I Met Your Father."

There's no denying that Smulders has had a successful career since "How I Met Your Mother" put her on the map, but she's also been through some tragic moments, both before and after she made it as an actress. Like others, she's had doubts about her career, dealt with difficult diagnoses, and had to literally rebuild from the ground up. Despite these tragic details, she's used her platform to help others and spread awareness. 

While she was working on "How I Met Your Mother," Cobie Smulders was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 25 years old. Her diagnosis came in 2008, while she was filming Season 3 of the popular CBS sitcom, which contains some of the best episodes. The actress went to her doctor because she felt pressure in her abdomen and was pretty lethargic, though she did not think she would receive a cancer diagnosis. "Ovarian cancer wasn't at all in the forefront of my mind or a health concern at all," Smulders said in an interview with Coping magazine.

It took several months to pin point the cause of her symptoms. A tumor was found on one of her ovaries after an ultrasound, resulting in a shift in her life. She was determined to do what she could to treat her cancer. "I remember so vividly when I got my diagnosis," the actress continued. "I'm a very proactive person, slightly stubborn. Not slightly, very stubborn. And I immediately was like, 'Okay what am I going to do?'" 

Smulders made several significant changes to her life surrounding her diet and health. She cut out different foods, particularly carbohydrates and cheese, and tried to do more for her personal wellness, like yoga and meditation. The diagnosis changed how she views life and how she responds to her body. "I don't allow the stress of the unknown to affect my health, and I listen to my body when it sends me distress signals," she said.

In addition to modifying her diet and adding different wellness techniques to her routine, Cobie Smulders had several surgeries to remove the cancerous tissue. What started as one tumor on one ovary turned into multiple across both ovaries and in other parts of her body, necessitating multiple surgeries over the span of two years. "I had tumors on both ovaries, and the cancer had spread into my lymph nodes and surrounding tissues," she told Women's Health. Smulders has been in remission since her diagnosis in 2008.

The actress initially kept her cancer diagnosis private, sharing what she went through once she was in remission. Smulders wants to be an advocate and raise awareness to help others on their own treatment journeys by speaking about her experience, particularly for those with recurrent cancer. "I don't think I'll ever feel like I'm cancer-free," she continued. "Now that I'm five years out, I'm trying to think of it as a positive thing and what can I learn from it. And if I can create more awareness, I'll do it."

Cobie Smulders' cancer diagnosis directly impacted her ability to have children because of how much of her ovaries were removed during her surgeries. Because she only had one-third of one ovary left, conceiving a child naturally could be difficult. It was something the actress had to think about, in addition to everything else regarding her health and treatment. "Being a mother has always been a very important thing for me," she told Coping magazine. "And to be faced with the possibility of that not happening at age 25, it was very hard. It was something I had to grapple with a lot."

However, just a year after completing her surgeries, Smulders got the news she was pregnant. Five years later, she became pregnant again with her second child. The actress recognizes what the chances to conceive twice were with only a small portion of an ovary. "I ended up keeping a third of one of my ovaries, and through that, was able to have two children naturally. Which, when I say that out loud, I can't even believe that happened," she continued. "When I was able to have kids, that was everything. And it still is everything."

Los Angeles was devastated by wildfires in early 2025, with several actors losing their houses, including Cobie Smulders. Her home was located in Pacific Palisades, which saw widespread damage from the fires. At the time, her husband, former "Saturday Night Live" star Taran Killam, was set to star in the off-Broadway "Urinetown" as Lockstock. However, he dropped out of the musical because of the loss of their home.

The couple purchased the property in 2017 and oversaw significant renovations to it before they moved in. Smulders spoke with Architectural Digest in 2018 about the year-long effort. The house even featured a built-in photo booth that Smulders would use regularly, even though the upkeep of the machine could be a headache. "I'm obsessed with photo booths," the actress said. "Now we have one in the house, and that's a real maintenance nightmare. You never look inside those machines, but it's like 12 buckets of chemicals. I mean it's like a mini darkroom."

The property also had solar panels, which Smulders and Killam used not just for electricity, but to heat an above-ground pool. The panels were among the most expensive things they installed during the renovations, but it was worth it to the actress. "It was very important to me to be as green as possible," she said. Though the couple hasn't said anything about the tragedy of losing their home and all the memories within it, Smulders did spend time volunteering with relief efforts, helping those in need and showing her gratitude for the first responders.

Acting wasn't always what Cobie Smulders dreamed of doing. At one point during her childhood in Vancouver, marine biology was something she thought about, and it wasn't until high school that acting came into the picture. She was more involved with theater as a teenager, but she segued into modeling for a bit, not initially convinced acting could be a long-term option for her.

"When I was younger, I think [Vancouver] had 'X-Files' and it was just starting to create this industry up there. So, I didn't ever consider it to be a career choice," she told Venus Zine. Instead, she pivoted to modeling for a while, since she had a friend working in the industry and she thought it afforded her more opportunities. She traveled as part of the job, going overseas to Europe or to New York when she wasn't in school. While she enjoyed certain aspects of modeling, commenting that as a young adult it was fun to live in other countries and meet new people, the experience almost deterred her from exploring a career in acting.

Smulders was put off by the idea of auditions, especially after doing modeling go-sees, where her appearance is the first thing she's judged on. "You go into these rooms, and I've had the experience of people judging you physically for so long and I was over that," she continued. "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.'"

One summer during her childhood, Cobie Smulders decided she wanted to replicate actress Alicia Silverstone's moves from the Aerosmith music videos. Silverstone, known for her role as Cher Horowitz in "Clueless," famously starred in three music videos for the band: "Cryin'", "Amazing," and "Crazy." She's always on the move, doing action-filled stunts, ditching school, and even getting a tattoo. 

While speaking with Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show," Smulders shared how much she liked to watch Aerosmith music videos as a kid, so much so that she tried to replicate some of Silverstone's kicks from the "Cryin'" video, which ended in a bad injury. "I loved it so much that I would like, re-create it," she said. "I thought that that move, that kick, was so cool. And I did it, and I kicked it, and I fell and I broke my elbow." 

She didn't want to go to school with a cast on, so she tried to hide her injury and preserve her image. "My plan was I was not going to tell my mother anything," she continued. "I was just going to hide it." While this worked for a few hours, when her mom got home, she folded, telling her about the injury. Smulders ended up with a cast, but told a better story to seem cool: "I told everybody I hurt myself skateboarding."

Cobie Smulders isn't the only "How I Met Your Mother" star to face personal difficulties: Here are some tragic details about Josh Radnor.