Biography

Rachel Nichols

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Rachel Emily Nichols was born in Augusta, Maine, the daughter of Alison and James Nichols, a schoolteacher. She has English, French Canadian, German, Irish, Italian and Scottish ancestry. She attended and graduated from Cony High School in Augusta, where she competed in the high jump. She attended Columbia University in New York City, where she eventually graduated with a double major in mathematics and economics. She began modeling, launching a successful career with work for such high-profile companies as Guess?, Abercrombie & Fitch and L'Oréal.

Rachel moved into acting, snagging a role on the HBO situation comedy Sex and the City (1998) with her very first audition. She made her film debut as Jessica Matthews in the prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003). Success continued with roles in such projects as The Amityville Horror (2005), The Inside (2005), Alias (2001), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), Criminal Minds (2005) (a recurring role as FBI Agent Ashley Seaver) and Conan the Barbarian (2011). She played the lead role of police officer Kiera Cameron on the science fiction series Continuum (2012).
- IMDb mini biography by: Kad

Before she began her modeling career, she attended and graduated from Columbia University with a double major in mathematics and economics to have a career as a Wall Street analyst.
Received the first role she auditioned for, as the restaurant hostess on Sex and the City (1998).
Had a body double for her sex scene in Conan the Barbarian (2011).
Ranked #28 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 Women of 2003 list.
Modelled for Guess?, Abercrombie & Fitch, L'Oreal and Nicole Miller.

[on playing the role of Tamara in Conan the Barbarian (2011)] It was really important that she not be the damsel-in-distress. We wanted to update and empower her, and the best way to do that is to go toe-to-toe with Conan. So I give him attitude in the beginning, and there really is a hostile relationship.
[on her first sex scene in a movie] They were nice enough to shoot the scene at the end of filming, so by then Jason [Jason Momoa] and I had become friends. But it still is awkward, especially when you have the director saying, "Grab her neck and bite her.".
History is fickle. We know that. The good and bad come around and go around, and go around again. There are recessions and depressions and economic boom and bust. I'm concerned about the future. I think many people acknowledge we're on a path that can't be sustained.
I love the physicality side of roles, I really do. And when I get to do my own stunts, it's that much cooler. I'll do anything the production safety people will let me.
[on Continuum (2012)] I like these strong female role models. Carlos [Victor Webster] had a shower scene the other day. Without his top on. He gets to do all the fun eye-candy stuff, and I get to kill people. It's gritty.

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