Cobie Smulders

Cobie Smulders

Cobie Smulders portrayed Maria Hill in The Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron and will reprise her role in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War.

Significant roles

• Juliet Droil in Veritas: The Quest (2003-2004)
• Leigh Ostin in The L Word (2005)
• Robin Scherbatsky in How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)
• Tara in The Slammin' Salmon (2009)

Quotes

• "We start in April, which is like... tomorrow, I literally leave here and I go to Albuqerque, New Mexico, to shoot some scenes in a catsuit. I've tried on portions of the catsuit, I've seen conceptual drawings of what they want it to be. It's fascinating to me. I feel like wardrobe becomes very creative on these types of movies because they literally spend weeks designing just the pants or the emblem. It's such an all-consuming process, so I'm excited to see how it all turns out."
• "I hired this amazing black-ops trainer to teach me how to hold a gun, take me to a shooting range, how to hit, how to hold myself, how to walk and basically how to look. I don't do a ton of fighting in the movie, which is why I wasn't offered a trainer, but I wanted to look like I had the ability to. And I really just got down and dirty with the character, but then I finally went on set; when you're about to roll, all the "blubbity blue" you've been working on kind of messes with you. And you become a little bit detached."
• "I can relate to her being a mom and being a business woman and trying to work full time and raising a family and having a career. We're asked to do a lot of things these days. I feel she is just all about her job and keeping things going."
• "It was everything they said it would be. I've wanted to work with Joss for a long time now. I auditioned and then he saw the tape and I was brought in to screen test with him. I somehow convinced him to give me the part."
• "There's not a lot of female bonding because of the central story. I'd like to think behind the scenes they [Hill and Black Widow] were really good pals like the guys in the locker room."
• "I said to Joss and Marvel,"How would you like this to be done and I will try to do that to the best of my abilities.'" I wanted to bring out the things in her personality in the comic books that I liked, which was similar to what they had envisioned."
• "Maria Hill has an interesting relationship with Nick at the beginning. She really follows the rules and has a certain mentality when it comes to the way that she gets things done. I don't think she necessarily agrees with Fury so there's a lot of head-butting throughout the film as that relationship changes."
• "I was just blown away when I found out that I got the role. To be able to part of the Marvel Universe and play such a great character was something that still has not settled in and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity. At the beginning of the film, assembling The Avengers team is one of the major reasons that Nick Fury and Maria Hill do not get along. She thinks that they're a huge threat, especially the Hulk. They're very volatile characters and I think that she's a bit more by the rules and would rather take things out in military style rather than bringing together this team of loners—loners in the sense that they do their own thing. But then after what happens, she sees that we need them."
• "Maria Hill and Nick Fury butt heads constantly. I think that Maria is a little bit more intuitive than Nick. But throughout the course of the film, she realizes that he is involved and he does care, and he is taking the right steps to protect our country and fight the bad guys."
• "I mean, everything's up in the air right now. I know they're starting Iron Man 3 and then Thor 2 and then Captain America again. I don't know about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s involvement with all of them, but I hope to be a part of it."
• "I really loved doing stunts. And I hope that if we do more films that I can get more physical. I want to hit somebody with this. Is that intense? I got to do a lot of this, but not so much this. So, I'd like to do more of this."
• "I've seen parts of it [Winter Soldier script], but yeah I don't know much. This is Marvel! They don't let you know anything. It's very watermarked scripts, heavily watermarked. Yeah, they don't let you know like the day of, but they are very secretive and I think they are still figuring stuff out. I don't know the exact dates [filming begins]. I know it's some time in March or June."
• "The commitments to How I Met Your Mother don't affect it [the participation to S.H.I.E.L.D. tv show]. And I can't really say, but there are definite talks about it."
• "Oh yeah! I'm very excited. I will do Maria Hill until they fire me and hire someone else to do it."
• "I can't really talk too much about it [S.H.I.E.L.D. series] because there's some talks about it, regarding Maria Hill. But Joss Whedon is a genius and any opportunity that I have to say words that he has written I will take. Clark, this is sort of his show. I love Clark and want to be apart of it. But we'll see."
• "I think I'm in Avengers 2, but it is very top secret. I hope I'm in Avengers 2. I didn't get my invitation yet. Well, actually, they know I'm in it but they don't know to what degree I'm in it."
• "I am really excited to read the script because they are introducing Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch into the Avengers universe and the bad guy is going to be very interesting."
• "I think we're both pretty excited. From the world of creative fun and fantasy, I'm really excited to be a part of anything Marvel because it's supported by such great fans and it's just a dream."
• "I'm not talking about Avengers anymore... ever. I'll tell you, I'm excited about it. I know everything there is to know, but I'm not saying anything about it - until literally the movie's out on DVD. Then I'll be like, 'Wasn't that a great part?' But I'm very excited. Joss Whedon is the best man on the planet."
• "There's so many pieces to this giant puzzle, and I'm happy that Maria Hill is one of them. She's working for Tony Stark, yes, but they shot so many locations all over the world and this team is out doing all sorts of things. So I like to think that Maria is at headquarters, trying to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. And working for Tony Stark is a whole other ballgame. She doesn't have S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel to back her up at her disposal, so it's an entirely different vibe for her."
• "I see Maria as having more of a female presence in this world, and it's really exciting to have Scarlet Witch come in, and to see the Black Widow have these amazing moments, and see more women on film with all these dudes. It's great."
• "If I were to have a super power, it would be super speed. Super-speed would be really nice right now in my life and being able to get stuff done really quickly. It changes. I get that question a lot, especially when I'm doing Marvel stuff, but yes, super speed would be good."