SDCC 2019: Cobie Smulders' 'very unhinged' 'Stumptown' character uses sex and alcohol to cope with severe PTSD
Cobie Smulders soared to new heights of popularity as the cool girl Robyn Scherbatsky in 'How I Met Your Mother'. Then she surprised and shocked us as S.H.I.E.L.D agent Maria Hill in Marvel's Avengers franchise. And now, she is taking her onscreen badass avatar to a whole other level as she gears up for the role of an army veteran turned private investigator Dex Period in the upcoming ABC drama, 'Stumptown'.
Created by Greg Rucka and co-written by him with Jason Richman, the show focuses on Smulders' character Dex, who is described as "a sharp-witted army veteran becomes a private investigator in Portland, Oregon, where she takes care of her brother."
Sounds pretty neat, but Smulders will have fans know that Dex's plot and arc are anything but neat, in fact, it is the messiest character Smulders has had the chance to play.
"It was really this character of Dex," that drew her to make her TV comeback after all these years, Smulders shared exclusively with MEA Worldwide (MEAWW) as we caught up with her at the San Diego Comic-Con 2019.
"She's so complicated and she's been really fun to play because you're playing so many different things," the actress continued, adding: "And she's messy, and I was just ready to play somebody who was very unhinged."
Things get even better with the setting of the plot, which Smulders will have you know is "not in the mall, not in the spaceship. We're in the ground, we're in the bars, we're messy, and we're getting the job done."
Things take a darker turn when you dissect the character of Dex because she isn't the squeaky clean veteran turned PI, making others' lives better. In fact, it is her life that she needs to get back on track, but what's stopping her is a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from her days in the service, revealed Smulders.
"This is a character who's dealing with PTSD," Smulders told us, explaining, "She had some really traumatic events happen to her when she was in the military service. She's 10 years out but she's still struggling, and she copes with that through many different addictions," which include sex, gambling, and alcohol.
"She's just floating through life, and just barely getting by financially, in her relationships, and she's just messier than anyone I've had the chance to get," she enthused.
As confident as Smulders is about the upcoming show, she is also slightly worried about all the long hours of work which would keep her from seeing her kids. But that doesn't reduce the amount of excitement she's bubbling with about portraying the messy, somewhat dysfunctional PI.
'Stumptown' premieres on September 25 at 10 pm only on ABC.