In 2019, Cobie Smulders was cast in the lead role of down-on-her-luck private investigator Dex Parios in "Stumptown", an ABC drama based on a graphic novel. And the role was a physical one. In the pilot, one scene featured her character simultaneously fighting two would-be assailants in the backseat of a car — while it's flying off a bridge. "I took some hits in that one," she admitted during a "Stumptown" session at the Television Critics Association press tour, as reported by the Panama City News Herald. 

During that same press session, reported Fox News, Smulders said she felt well prepared for her new role after receiving a crash course in stunt training from Tom Cruise, her co-star in "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back." Working with Cruise, she explained, "was when I learned the most I had up until then about training, about fighting, about stunts, about how to do everything safely because he was such a pro at just doing everything correctly and really well."

While she admitted all that stunt work was "physically wearing," Smulders managed to escape unscathed. "If you're getting hurt," she explained, "someone's not doing their job right."