It might be hard to have a name even more unique than her How I Met Your Mother character Robin Scherbatsky, but actress Cobie Smulders pulled it off. And the star of CBS’s sleeper hit sitcom showed Hollywood.com just how much more distinctly different she is from the average starlet: She’s skipping the clubhopping and swag-gathering in favor of singing lessons and scuba diving.
Hollywood.com: You look absolutely beautiful today.
Cobie Smulders: Stop it. Stop flirting with me!
HW: That’s how I get you to give me good answers.
CS: All right! Want do you want to know?
HW: This is CBS’s stealth show—though there’s no big gimmick or giant star anchoring it, it’s done so well with the viewers.
CS: We’re consistent. You can’t get rid of us. We’re going to stay right here. It’s great, and also it still allows you to have a life. Last year it felt like a job. Whereas if I was on a Grey’s Anatomy or a Lost or something it becomes your life. So it’s nice to be consistent, but I’m not sure how long the consistency will last for us. Hopefully this next season will pick up a little bit more, so that we can pick up some more momentum.
HW: What are you hoping is going to happen to your character this season?
CS: Well, I know that the Ted and Robin relationship probably won’t last as long as anyone thinks. I think that it’ll play out in whatever way it’s going to. I don’t really know, but I think that she’ll go through that transition and it’ll be kind of an awakening feeling and like, “Okay, I do want to be with someone and a relationship would be nice.” Where that direction is going to go I don’t know.
HW: Do you hang out with the cast at all when you’re not shooting?
CS: Yes, very much. Jason [Segel] was actually cool enough to rent a house in Hawaii and I think that all of us went at some point. I was there for a week and I know that Alyson [Hannigan] was there for a few days, and Josh [Radnor] was there when I was there, and it’s like we were always there, but at different times. It was great.
HW: Are you really into fashion?
CS: I’m not really fashionable. I’m very much like a jeans and a tank top kind of girl. I will do a dress every once in a while as long as it’s below the knee. I’m not a really a short skirt kind of lady because I’m kind of physical and it scares me especially at these things with all the cameras around and I like jewelry, but not too much of it. I’m very much a minimalist.
HW: Do you get recognized when you’re the jeans and T-shirt girl?
CS: No. Hardly ever. Actually, I had a really interesting moment because I rarely get recognized because I never wear makeup.
HW: You don’t need it.
CS: Thank you—Stop flirting with me! What are you trying to do to me?! Goodness. But I just got certified in scuba diving and there was this truck that filled up air tanks and also rented gear and the guy was like, “I have to ask you a question. Are you Cobie Smulders from How I Met Your Mother?” I was like, “Yeah. Wow. Hi. Nice to meet you.” I never get recognized. Every time that I do I’m surprised.
HW: Is it nice to have the success of the show and still be able to travel in your private life and not be always under the microscope?
CS: Yeah, very much. I don’t know if I will ever get to that level, but it’s nice to be able to go to work everyday on a television show which is on prime time and still be able to maintain my normal life.
HW: What are pursuits do you have right now, aside from scuba-diving?
CS: I do a lot of dance. I do tap and I’m doing jazz right now, and I also sing. I’m in singing classes. I’m in singing classes. I don’t want to say that I’m a singer.
HW: What kind of music?
CS: Mainly Broadway musicals.
HW: Oh, I’m betting you’re a karaoke queen–
CS: No, I’m not. Get a couple of beers in me and I’ll sing my heart out and play a little tune. It’s a goal thing for me with the singing and I’m getting there. I’m getting there. I go once or twice a week for classes. So I’m getting there. I’m just trying it. I just have many, many interests and the reason why I pursue acting the most is because it gives me the most joy to do, but I am interested in a lot of things. So to keep myself kind of balanced I do a lot.
HW: Do you think that’s made it easier for you to be in Hollywood?
CS: I think so. Listen, I’ve had many conversations, I’ve gone back and forth with myself on like, ‘If you’re an actor you have to do acting a hundred percent and you can’t think about anything else.’ I feel personally that there are so many things out there that interest me, maybe not as much as this which is why I’m doing this hardcore right now, but if God forbid something ever happened and I don’t work for years I know that I can go back to school and study and get a degree and have a job.
HW: Do you have any time for a romantic life?
CS: Yes, I do. I have a very understanding boyfriend.
HW: How long have you two been together?
CS: Just over a year and a half. He’s an actor and so he understands for sure the scheduling and all of this stuff, but it’s good to have someone who gets it.
HW: It seems like you’re into working for the love of the work, but not into being a huge star. Is that something that you’re not in a rush for?
CS: I understand the duties that come with being on a TV show and working in the limelight. It allows to have the kinds of salaries that we have, and also to have the kind of lifestyle that we have. I don’t know if that happened to me how I would personally handle it. I prefer my life this way, and if it changed and went in another direction I would have to adapt to that.
HW: Have you ever had a group of friends like this where there is ever-changing dynamic between who is with who?
CS: Oh yeah, very much.
HW: Maybe eventually on the show you’ll all have a chance to get together which each other.
CS: Even me and Alyson?
HW: That’ll be next season, right?
CS: Yes. Where Lily and Robin become a couple. No, that’s a whole other show. That’s a whole other L Word spin-off.
