Jacoba Francisca Maria "Cobie" Smulders (born April 3, 1982) is a Canadian actress and former model, known for her role as Robin Scherbatsky on the television series How I Met Your Mother and Maria Hill in The Avengers. Smulders was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to a Dutch father and an English mother. She was named after her great-aunt, Jacoba, from whom she gained the nickname "Cobie." Smulders worked in modeling, which she later said she "kind of hated," adding that the experience made her hesitant about pursuing acting as a career: "You know you go into these rooms, and I’ve had the experience of people judging you physically for so long and I was over that. 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.’"