Rachel Nichols

Rachel Nichols is an American actress and model who initially began her career in modeling before transitioning to film and television acting. She achieved wider recognition for her roles in television series such as Alias and the horror film The Amityville Horror. Over her career, she has appeared in major feature films including Star Trek and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, as well as starring in the science fiction television series Continuum.

Nichols was born in Augusta, Maine, to Alison Nichols and Jim Nichols, a schoolteacher. She attended Cony High School, where she participated in the high jump and took structured dance classes. After graduating in 1998, she enrolled at Columbia University in New York City with plans to pursue a career as a Wall Street analyst. She studied economics, psychology, and drama, graduating from Columbia in 2003 with a double major in mathematics and economics.

While attending Columbia University, Nichols was noticed by a modeling agent during lunch and was invited to work in Paris. She used the earnings from her modeling work to pay her university tuition. During her modeling career, she appeared in advertising campaigns for brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Guess, and L'Oreal, and hosted several MTV specials. Nichols stated in September 2008 that she had retired from modeling.

Nichols began acting with minor roles, including a bit part in the film Autumn in New York in 2000 and an episode of Sex and the City in 2002. Her first major film role came as a student newspaper reporter in Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd in 2003. She later appeared in Debating Robert Lee and the series Line of Fire, followed by a starring role as a rookie FBI agent in the 2005 television series The Inside.

In 2005, Nichols joined the cast of the action series Alias as computer expert Rachel Gibson during its fifth season. That same year, she played a babysitter in The Amityville Horror, receiving nominations for a Teen Choice Award and an MTV Movie Award. She subsequently starred in her first leading film role in the horror thriller P2 in 2007. Her other film projects during this period included Shopgirl, The Woods, Resurrecting the Champ, Charlie Wilson's War, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

Nichols gained broader mainstream recognition in 2009 with appearances in two major science-fiction action films. She portrayed an Orion cadet in Star Trek and starred as Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, a role for which she trained in mixed martial arts and gained muscle. Following these projects, she appeared in the direct-to-DVD horror film For Sale by Owner and the independent crime drama Meskada in 2010.

In 2011, Nichols starred in the fantasy film Conan the Barbarian, performing her own stunt work, and appeared in the independent romantic comedy A Bird of the Air. On television, she joined Criminal Minds as FBI cadet Ashley Seaver during its sixth season. She went on to star as a police officer in the Canadian science-fiction series Continuum from 2012 to 2015. Her other film credits include Alex Cross, Raze, and Inside, while her later television credits include roles on Chicago Fire, The Librarians, and The Man in the High Castle.