Cobie Smulders on Her Battle with Ovarian Cancer: 'It Was a Very Hard Time For Me'

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Cobie Smulders is a survivor.

ET exclusively caught up with the inspiring 33-year-old actress at Variety's Power of Women luncheon presented by Lifetime on Friday, when she explained her decision to finally make her cancer battle public in the new issue of Women's Health. The former How I Met Your Mother star recently revealed to the magazine that she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 25, while filming the third season of her hit CBS show.

"It was a very hard time for me," she said about her battle with cancer, which included multiple surgeries to remove the cancerous tissue in her ovaries and lymph nodes. "It was a surprise and that was something that I dealt with personally with my family and with my close friends, and I'm happy to say I'm a survivor now."

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"The decision for me to do the Women's Health article was to just create more awareness in terms of cancer," she went on. "Ovarian is the hardest to detect but it is the quickest that will kill you, and luckily for me I was able to get my prognosis early and seek treatment."

As for her decision to keep working and keep her health issues private at the time, she said it was her preference.

"I think when you go through something like, you take it on as you're gonna take it on," she reflected. "And for me, I just wanted to do my work and live my life, and whatever was gonna happen was gonna happen."

These days, Cobie is definitely thriving. She and Saturday Night Live star Taran Killam have been married since September 2012, and have two children together. She also stars in the Avengers franchise as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill, and got candid with ET about her co-stars' recent press troubles -- specifically, Robert Downey Jr.'s recent walkout on a UK Channel 4 News reporter when he started asking personal questions about his troubled past.

"I mean, here's the thing, it's kind of a part of our jobs," she said matter-of-factly about press commitments. “When a movie comes out you want people to go and see it, and when you do a big movie you do more press. It's just a part of our job, and it's just something you do."

VIDEO: Cobie Smulders Blushes Over Her Topless 'Women's Health' Cover

Check out ET's Avengers: Age of Ultron on-set exclusive with Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth (Thor) in the video below!

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