Rachel Nichols

Rachel Emily Nichols is an American actress and model. Nichols began modeling while attending Columbia University in New York City in the late 1990s, and transitioned into acting by the early 2000s; she had a part in the romantic drama Autumn in New York (2000) and a one-episode role in the fourth season of Sex and the City (2002). Her first major role was in the comedy Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003), and she went on to achieve wider recognition playing Rachel Gibson in the final season of the action television series Alias (2005–2006) and for her role in the horror film The Amityville Horror (2005). Nichols obtained her first starring film role in the thriller P2 (2007) and found mainstream success with the science-fiction action films Star Trek (2009) and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009). Her other notable films include The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008), Conan the Barbarian (2011), Alex Cross (2012), Raze (2013), and Inside (2016). Nichols starred in the television series Continuum (2012–2015), and played notable roles in the sixth season of Criminal Minds (2010–2011), the fourth seasons of both Chicago Fire (2015–2016) and The Librarians (2017–2018), and five episodes as a Gestapo officer named Martha on The Man in the High Castle. Early life and modeling Rachel Nichols was born in Augusta, Maine, to Jim, a schoolteacher, and Alison Nichols. She attended Cony High School, where she competed in the high jump. Nichols said in an interview that, when she was in high school, her mother would euphemistically refer to her as "a late bloomer", "which meant that I had uncontrollable arms and legs, I had very long appendages. It took several years of very highly structured dance classes for me to be able to control myself." Upon graduating in 1998, she enrolled at Columbia University in New York City, aiming for a career as a Wall Street analyst. She was noticed by a modeling agent during lunch one day and was invited to work in Paris; she eventually paid her tuition with the proceeds from her modeling work. She worked on advertising campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch, Guess, and L'Oréal; she also hosted several MTV specials. Nichols studied economics and psychology, as well as drama, graduating from Columbia in 2003 with a double major in mathematics and economics. Nichols said in September 2008 that "the modeling shoes have been hung up."