Latest news with #Smulders
Express Tribune
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Cobie Smulders reveals on-set secrets from How I Met Your Mother
Cobie Smulders, known for her role as Robin Scherbatsky on How I Met Your Mother, has revealed a surprising behind-the-scenes ritual involving co-star Josh Radnor. Speaking on the How We Made Your Mother podcast with Radnor and series co-creator Craig Thomas, Smulders said she had a habit of whispering 'extremely inappropriate' things to Radnor just before filming their intimate scenes. Smulders explained that the tactic was part of an acting method known as 'the moment before,' used to build emotional continuity prior to a scene. However, her version was far from traditional. 'Typically it was what we just did. And usually it was sexual,' Smulders said, adding that the comments would often make Radnor blush and leave him speechless. Radnor confirmed Smulders' claim and praised her comic timing. 'She would time it in such a way that she would finish saying it, they'd call 'action,' and I couldn't speak,' he said. He also joked that Smulders could write 'the filthiest romance novels' due to her creativity. While Neil Patrick Harris was also known for making crude remarks on set, Radnor said Smulders surpassed everyone in terms of shock value. Interestingly, co-creator Craig Thomas said he had no idea this dynamic existed during filming. How I Met Your Mother originally aired on CBS and is currently streaming on Netflix and Hulu.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cobie Smulders on 'Super Team Canada': 'Cool to be part of something that is made by Canadians, for Canadians'
Cobie Smulders has expanded her superhero experience, going from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Maria Hill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to voicing the superhero Niagara Falls in the animated Crave series Super Team Canada. In the show Niagara Falls, described as the "mighty maiden of moisture," stops bad guys by controlling water. The 10-episode show, created by Emmy-winning brothers Robert Cohen (The Big Bang Theory) and Joel H. Cohen (The Simpsons), is about a team of six Canadian superheroes. Unlike what we see in the MCU, these superheroes are definitely not famous, but they still come together to save the world from evil threats. Other stars voicing superheroes include Will Arnett as Breakaway, Charles Demers as Poutine, Brian Drummond as Sasquatchewan, Veena Sood as RCM-PC (Robotic Crime Management Polite Computer), Ceara Morgana as Chinook, and Kevin McDonald as the voice Canada's Prime Minister, who oversees the work of the superheroes. Smulders highlighted that she agreed to participate in this show "pretty much immediately." "I just loved it from the get go. I think it's such a great group of characters. It's such a funny concept, and I was excited to jump on board," Smulders told Yahoo Canada. Instead of this being a show with Canadianisms, as Smulders described, the entire "landscape" of the series is Canadian. "It's cool to be part of something that is made by Canadians, for Canadians," Smulders said. "The references in the show, ... they hit me pretty hard, because there are jokes and references from my youth that I thought only I knew." One thing that had to be sorted out is exactly how Canadian each character should sound, with some superheroes having a more aggressive Canadian accent than others. "We had discussions about, how hard do you want to push it as Niagara Falls. Because I feel like Breakaway, ... that accent is strong," Smulders said. "And I think we decided somewhere in between, which is maybe my voice, the way I talk after I've had like two beers, and really just kind of letting the accent be a little loose. And maybe there will be a word or two that sounds different, but not trying to make it sound too comically Canadian. But just having a little colour to it." What's interesting about working in animation is that Smulders gets to see the final product almost like an audience member herself. While the script isn't completely new to her, she gets to see how similar, or different, the show looks, compared to what she imagined in her head. "It is truly so fun to see the finished project product on a project like this, because it's just all existing in your mind," Smulders said. "You're going through the scenes and you're kind of imagining what it looks like, but when you really get to see the amount of art and talent and creativity that goes into the drawing of this, it's really quite magical." Notably, Super Team Canada is being released during a particularly tense time between Canada and the U.S., from the existing tariffs to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to tariff movies produced outside the U.S.. That has caused some Canadians to think local a little bit more, and that can extend to entertainment. While Smulders found great success in American productions, including How I Met Your Mother and recently appearing in the Apple TV+ hit Shrinking, the Vancouver-born actor still loves working in Canada, and hopes there are more Canadian projects made in the future. "I have always been a very proud Canadian," Smulders said. "I've always wanted to work up here and love working with the crews up here, and love the content that comes out of Canada." "So I hope that when the show comes out, which is the first original animated series that's been on Crave, I hope that just means that there's more coming."
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cobie Smulders whispered 'inappropriate' things to 'How I Met Your Mother 'costar Josh Radnor before' 'sex scenes
Cobie Smulders knew exactly how to set the mood before filming sex scenes with Josh Radnor on How I Met Your Mother. Smulders played Robin, the object of Ted's (Radnor) affection for a majority of the long-running sitcom, and she revealed on Monday's episode of Radnor and co-creator Craig Thomas' How We Made Your Mother podcast that she would whisper "extremely inappropriate" things before filming scenes in bed together. "Josh and I had quite a few intimate scenes, and so I would try to, as much as humanly possible, before we would roll, whisper something to Josh that was just extremely inappropriate," Smulders said. "We have something in acting called 'the moment before,' which is typically used in an audition [where] you have to land as soon as they roll... there's been a whole life, so you have to create this moment before. So I felt, as a good scene partner, I should lay out what the moment before was. And typically it was what we just did. And usually it was sexual." "Because there were a lot of post-coital scenes, yeah," Radnor agreed. Smulders laughed at how she was just being a "giving actor" to her scene partner by laying out what their characters had just done in bed before the scene began. "I feel like I'm an amazing scene partner and I'm just thinking about the other person and making sure that they're comfortable, making sure that there's a connection there," she said while Radnor laughed. "And so I would just sort of set us up before we actually started the scene in our speaking roles, just with like, 'This is what just transpired between us.' And usually Josh would not be able to say anything and his face would turn that color for those who are watching." Thomas confirmed that Radnor was "turning beet red" as Smulders told this story. "It's one of my favorite things," Smulders added. But when the show's co-creator asked for an "appropriately-worded example" of what Smulders would whisper to Radnor, she refused to share any details. "Just think of the worst possible thing and that's really what I [said]," she teased. Radnor explained that while their costar Neil Patrick Harris, who played womanizer Barney on the show, could be "disgusting" when whispering things to him before a scene began as well, Smulders took the cake with what she'd come up with. "Neil has a real ability to be gross," Radnor said. "He is nothing compared to the depravity that Cobie Smulders laid out." Thomas laughed as he admitted he and the other producers "never knew" this was happening on set in the almost decade-long run of the series. And Radnor praised Smulders for how she would finish saying her comments right before the director called "action," often leaving him speechless. "She would time it in such a way that she would finish saying [it], she would stick the landing, and they would say 'action,' and I couldn't speak," Radnor said. "They're fond memories, but I also was immobilized by Cobie's visionary. You could monetize this in some way, Cobie, like if acting stops, you know what I'm saying? I think you could write just the filthiest romance novels... I'm telling you, you have a real talent for spinning the dirtiest webs of narrative, it was always shocking to me. Delightful in its own way."When Thomas once again tried to get more details on what Smulders said, the actor said it's just between her and Radnor. "Only Josh and I know exactly what was said, and the context of what was said, and how it was delivered," she said. "But now you know what was going on." "Your imagination is free to wander," Radnor added. "And I'm also incredibly breakable. I'm easy to break. But I think probably in some of the blooper reels, when you see me laughing is probably in response to something [she said], if you see us in bed." How I Met Your Mother originally ran for nine seasons, from 2005 to 2014. While the majority of the series revolved around Ted's on-again, off-again love for Robin, (spoiler alert for something that's been out for over a decade!) he ultimately married and had children with Cristin Milioti's Tracy, who joined the series in the season 8 finale through all of the ninth and final season. However, the series finale revealed that after Tracy got sick and died young, their children encouraged Ted to get back together with Robin years later. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
Winnipeg Free Press
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Marvel star Cobie Smulders is finally a superhero with powers in ‘Super Team Canada'
TORONTO – When Cobie Smulders began working on 'Super Team Canada' two years ago, she didn't expect the goofy cartoon to align so perfectly with the current political landscape. Billed as Crave's first adult animated series, the half-hour comedy follows six overlooked Canadian superheroes who are called into action after the world's top heroes are taken out. In the premiere, the U.S. president and other global leaders laugh at the Canadian prime minister's claim that his country has caped crusaders of its own. The plot now plays like a cheeky metaphor for Canada pushing back against U.S. economic attacks and '51st state' jabs from U.S. President Donald Trump. 'It is funny timing,' Vancouver-born Smulders says while in Toronto last week. 'For me, I've always had a very strong sense of Canadian pride in my life. I live in the United States right now, but my heart is still in Vancouver,' adds the L.A.-based actor. '(The show) is sort of like this love letter to Canadiana and our culture and poking fun at our culture. It's really just there to entertain and to make people laugh, which I think we could all use right now.' The series is stacked with Canadian talent, including Calgary screenwriters Joel H. Cohen of 'The Simpsons' and Robert Cohen of 'The Ben Stiller Show,' with Toronto film and TV star Will Arnett starring and producing. Smulders voices a hydro-powered superhero called Niagara Falls. She cracks that it's a new experience for her, alluding to her decade-long stint as the mortal S.H.I.E.L.D agent Maria Hill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 'I'm finally a superhero with superpowers, which is exciting,' says Smulders, whose Marvel character largely works behind the scenes to co-ordinate the Avengers' missions. Arnett plays puck-slinging ex-hockey player Breakaway, comedian Charles Demers is Quebecois crimefighter Poutine and Kids in the Hall member Kevin McDonald is the Prime Minister of Canada. Together, they take on various foes, including giant evil robots, 'geriatric aliens and a trash pile,' says Smulders, who shot to stardom in the mid-aughts as Robin Scherbatsky in the CBS sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother.' The actor says it's 'wonderful' to see Canadians feeling more patriotic amid tense relations with the United States. 'Our country has so much to offer and I'm grateful that I grew up here. It has shaped and moulded me as a person, so I have only ever felt pride for my country,' she says. 'I guess the good thing that's coming out of this time is that other people are too. They're feeling that even more now.' Smulders says her national pride is why she gravitates towards Canadian projects, including Nova Scotia director Jason Buxton's thriller 'Sharp Corner,' currently in theatres. She stars as a therapist whose life unravels as her husband, played by Ben Foster, becomes obsessed with the frequent car accidents at a tight turn near their home. Smulders wants to see 'more content that is just for Canadians.' 'You'd still enjoy watching ('Super Team Canada') if you didn't grow up in Canada, but I think if you grew up in Canada, you would really love it,' she says. Smulders 'almost fell over' when she read the script for an episode inspired by the classic Canadian book series 'Anne of Green Gables,' noting she grew up watching the CBC miniseries. 'At some point, I would love to play Marilla Cuthbert,' she says, referring to Anne's stern but loving guardian. Screen production has suddenly become politicized with Trump vowing last week to slap a '100 per cent tariff' on all films produced outside of the U.S. But Smulders sidestepped the issue. 'I don't think I'm going to go down a tariff conversation because honestly, it changes every day,' says Smulders. 'I don't know what's real. I don't know what's going to happen but I just hope that we can keep making content that's good and funny and makes people laugh and feel things.' As much as Smulders is proud of her Canadian roots, she's also found a strong community in Los Angeles, where she says neighbours rallied after wildfires devastated the area in January. She says her home was among those destroyed. 'It was pretty rough,' she says, 'but I have seen the city come together in a really beautiful way.' Smulders has been doing her part, partnering with charity Save the Children to support families affected by the fires and volunteering weekly at a soup kitchen in Venice. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. She credits her Canadian upbringing for an inclination to help others. 'I think the way our country is set up, there is always an energy of giving back, of taking care of the planet, of looking outside yourself,' she says. 'That probably rubbed off in a good way on me.' 'Super Team Canada' premieres Friday on Crave. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Marvel star Cobie Smulders is finally a superhero with powers in ‘Super Team Canada'
TORONTO - When Cobie Smulders began working on 'Super Team Canada' two years ago, she didn't expect the goofy cartoon to align so perfectly with the current political landscape. Billed as Crave's first adult animated series, the half-hour comedy follows six overlooked Canadian superheroes who are called into action after the world's top heroes are taken out. In the premiere, the U.S. president and other global leaders laugh at the Canadian prime minister's claim that his country has caped crusaders of its own. The plot now plays like a cheeky metaphor for Canada pushing back against U.S. economic attacks and '51st state' jabs from U.S. President Donald Trump. 'It is funny timing,' Vancouver-born Smulders says while in Toronto last week. 'For me, I've always had a very strong sense of Canadian pride in my life. I live in the United States right now, but my heart is still in Vancouver,' adds the L.A.-based actor. '(The show) is sort of like this love letter to Canadiana and our culture and poking fun at our culture. It's really just there to entertain and to make people laugh, which I think we could all use right now.' The series is stacked with Canadian talent, including Calgary screenwriters Joel H. Cohen of 'The Simpsons' and Robert Cohen of 'The Ben Stiller Show,' with Toronto film and TV star Will Arnett starring and producing. Smulders voices a hydro-powered superhero called Niagara Falls. She cracks that it's a new experience for her, alluding to her decade-long stint as the mortal S.H.I.E.L.D agent Maria Hill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 'I'm finally a superhero with superpowers, which is exciting,' says Smulders, whose Marvel character largely works behind the scenes to co-ordinate the Avengers' missions. Arnett plays puck-slinging ex-hockey player Breakaway, comedian Charles Demers is Quebecois crimefighter Poutine and Kids in the Hall member Kevin McDonald is the Prime Minister of Canada. Together, they take on various foes, including giant evil robots, 'geriatric aliens and a trash pile,' says Smulders, who shot to stardom in the mid-aughts as Robin Scherbatsky in the CBS sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother.' The actor says it's 'wonderful' to see Canadians feeling more patriotic amid tense relations with the United States. 'Our country has so much to offer and I'm grateful that I grew up here. It has shaped and moulded me as a person, so I have only ever felt pride for my country,' she says. 'I guess the good thing that's coming out of this time is that other people are too. They're feeling that even more now.' Smulders says her national pride is why she gravitates towards Canadian projects, including Nova Scotia director Jason Buxton's thriller 'Sharp Corner,' currently in theatres. She stars as a therapist whose life unravels as her husband, played by Ben Foster, becomes obsessed with the frequent car accidents at a tight turn near their home. Smulders wants to see 'more content that is just for Canadians.' 'You'd still enjoy watching ('Super Team Canada') if you didn't grow up in Canada, but I think if you grew up in Canada, you would really love it,' she says. Smulders 'almost fell over' when she read the script for an episode inspired by the classic Canadian book series 'Anne of Green Gables,' noting she grew up watching the CBC miniseries. 'At some point, I would love to play Marilla Cuthbert,' she says, referring to Anne's stern but loving guardian. Screen production has suddenly become politicized with Trump vowing last week to slap a '100 per cent tariff' on all films produced outside of the U.S. But Smulders sidestepped the issue. 'I don't think I'm going to go down a tariff conversation because honestly, it changes every day,' says Smulders. 'I don't know what's real. I don't know what's going to happen but I just hope that we can keep making content that's good and funny and makes people laugh and feel things.' As much as Smulders is proud of her Canadian roots, she's also found a strong community in Los Angeles, where she says neighbours rallied after wildfires devastated the area in January. She says her home was among those destroyed. 'It was pretty rough,' she says, 'but I have seen the city come together in a really beautiful way.' Smulders has been doing her part, partnering with charity Save the Children to support families affected by the fires and volunteering weekly at a soup kitchen in Venice. She credits her Canadian upbringing for an inclination to help others. 'I think the way our country is set up, there is always an energy of giving back, of taking care of the planet, of looking outside yourself,' she says. 'That probably rubbed off in a good way on me.' 'Super Team Canada' premieres Friday on Crave. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2025.
