How Cobie Smulders Met Her ‘Unexpected’ Indie-Movie Future
Cobie Smulders is not accustomed to being singled out. The How I Met Your Mother star and Marvel universe apparatchik tends to operate in the company of others, which is why she found herself somewhat stricken with panic earlier this year at the Sundance premiere of her latest film, Unexpected, which opens in theaters and on demand this Friday. “Oh shit,” she recalls thinking. “I’m in every scene.”
It’s true, she is — though it’s about time. Fans of her CBS sitcom, which concluded its nine-season run last year, might agree that her Robin Scherbatsky emerged as the most sneakily satisfying character — “sneakily” because when the series debuted back in 2005, Smulders was definitely the cast’s wild card. Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel arrived in the wake of dearly departed television shows (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Freaks and Geeks, respectively), Neil Patrick Harris effectively ditched Doogie Howser in the time it took him to deliver one of Barney Stinson’s many memorable catchphrases, and Josh Radnor was the series’ titular “I.”
Smulders, meanwhile, grew up in Vancouver and didn’t venture into acting until she was 19. She bumped around a couple of shows, including the archaeological adventure drama Veritas: The Quest, which you most likely never saw. So her Scotch-swilling, career-driven journalist with the Canadian pop-star past was a total surprise, and her comedic timing hit Rose Byrne levels of out-of-nowhere-ness.
That said, the end of a successful sitcom can often signal a final bow for its stars. In fact, Unexpected writer-director Kris Swanberg admits to never having seen the show. “I met with agencies and they sent me a list of people they thought would be good,” she said during a press junket in Park City, Utah, last January. “Cobie was very personal with me about her own feelings about being a working mom. That’s how we connected.” The film, based loosely on Swanberg’s experience, concerns a Chicago high school teacher (Smulders) and her favorite student (Gail Bean) as they each confront an unplanned pregnancy. It’s a sensitive, self-aware story that manages to avoid every unsavory Dangerous Minds cliché you can think of, depicting motherhood as an equalizer of sorts — at least when it crashes headlong into these women’s dreams.
“I loved the script,” says Smulders. “That one took some convincing. I started stalking Kris via email, jumping in to say, ‘Hey, I’m here! If you want to talk about the movie, I’m around!'” Her tenacity paid off. At the time, Smulders was wrapping Results, an offbeat project from Andrew Bujalski (Mutual Appreciation, Computer Chess) in which she costarred with Guy Pearce as a fanatical physical trainer with boundary issues. The quirky character study, which also debuted at Sundance, was heaped with praise upon its release a few months ago. So, while moonlighting from her Marvelverse gig, Smulders seems to be finding ample refuge in the respectable — and very cozy — indie scene. (Bujalski is frequently credited with jumpstarting the oft-unscripted “mumblecore” movement, to which Swanberg’s husband, Joe [Drinking Buddies, Happy Christmas], is a prolific contributor.)