Cobie Smulders on Cancer at 25: 'I Survived It and You Can Too'

"Avengers" actress reveals that cancer empowered her to go topless for magazine.

ByABC News
April 29, 2015, 10:41 AM

— -- Avengers: Age of Ultron" star Cobie Smulders revealed on “Good Morning America” that the reason she chose to go topless on the cover of Women’s Health magazine was to help spread awareness about ovarian cancer, a disease she was diagnosed with at the age of 25.

“When Women’s Health came to me and asked me to do the cover topless, that was the first hurdle,” the actress said on “Good Morning America” today. “And then the second was -- I thought it was a really good opportunity to spread awareness. To just say, ‘I went through this and I survived it and you can too if you’re unfortunately struck with this disease.’ It’s something I think women need to pay a little bit more attention to and it creeps up on you and sometimes it’s too late.”

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Smulders, 33, recently opened up about her past bout with ovarian cancer in the May issue of the magazine, explaining her diagnosis came when she working on season 3 of “How I Met Your Mother.

The mother of two said it took two years and multiple surgeries to remove the cancer.

"I don't think I'll ever feel like I'm cancer-free," she told the magazine. "Now that I'm five years out, I'm trying to think of it as a positive thing and what can I learn from it.”

She is now keeping busy reprising her role as Maria Hill in the new “Avengers” film, which opens nationwide on Friday.