Cobie Smulders

As an actress, Cobie Smulders enjoyed the rare opportunity to star not only on a hit television series, but simultaneously appear in one of the biggest box office hits of all time. A former model, she turned to acting at the dawn of the new millennium, experiencing near misses as a cast member on a pair of quickly canceled series - "Special Unit 2" (UPN, 2001-02) and "Veritas: The Quest" (ABC, 2003). More television work and the occasional small role in such feature films as "Walking Tall," (2004) trickled in, but nothing substantial. That was until Smulders joined the ensemble cast of the relationship sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS, 2005-14). Working alongside Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris, Smulders suddenly found herself in the enviable position of a highly-rated and critically-praised series. Still, participation in a major feature film eluded Smulders, with little more than the comedy "The Slammin' Salmon" (2009) populating that section of her résumé. That all changed when writer-director Joss Whedon cast her as super agent Maria Hill in the superhero spectacular "The Avengers" (2012), a movie that ruled the box office for the year and set the stage for numerous potential follow-up appearances by the in-demand actress. Blessed with undeniable beauty, only enhanced by her seemingly effortless grace and confidence, Smulders looked forward to a very bright future on screens both small and large.