Rachel Nichols

Rachel Emily Nichols is an American actress who appeared as Orion Starfleet cadet in . Nichols previously worked with J.J. Abrams as well as Trek writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci on , in which she had a starring role as CIA agent Rachel Gibson during the show's fifth and final season. A picture of Nichols was used for card #10, Cadet Gaila, on the virtual collectible card battle game Star Trek: Rivals in .
==Career==
Nichols was born and raised in Augusta, Maine, where she attended Cony High School. After graduating from Cony, she attended Columbia University in New York. She began modeling during her time at Columbia, which included doing photo shoots in Europe. In 2000, she appeared as a model in , starring Star Treks Winona Ryder.
Although she intended to study psychology when she initially began attending Columbia, Nichols ultimately took up drama courses and opted to pursue a career in acting in 2002. She made her television debut that same year in an episode of HBO's Sex and the City, starring actress Kim Cattrall. Shortly thereafter, she received her first major film role, playing the female lead in (2003). That same year, she was ranked #28 in Maxim magazine's Top 100 Sexiest Women.
Nichols subsequently had supporting roles in (2005, co-starring Jimmy Bennett). Nichols was nominated for both an MTV Movie Award and a Teen Choice Award for her work in this film. She also appeared in (2005, along with Clyde Kusatsu and Randy Oglesby). After a supporting role in the 2006 drama The Woods, Nichols co-starred with Teri Hatcher in (2007), then played the lead role in (2007). 
She was next seen in (2007, co-starring included fellow Trek alumni Spencer Garrett, Cyia Batten, Pavel Lychnikoff, and Faran Tahir). Nichols then co-starred in (2008), (2009, with Joanna Cassidy) and played Master Sergeant Shana M. O'Hara, aka Scarlett, in Paramount Pictures' (2009).
Nichols played the female lead role of Tamara in (2011, featured Ron Perlman). She then appeared in (2012), in which her Star Trek co-star Tyler Perry portrayed the title role. This was the third film to feature the Alex Cross character; the first two were Kiss the Girls, which starred Ashley Judd, and Along Came a Spider, which featured another of Nichols' Star Trek co-stars, Anton Yelchin.
During the 2010-2011 TV season, Nichols played the recurring role of Ashley Seaver on CBS' . She has played the lead role in the Canadian 2012-2015 Syfy series Continuum, the first time she had to carry an entire production as the main lead; Tony Amendola, Roger R. Cross, and Brian Markinson were also regulars on this series.
Nichols married real estate developer Michael Kershaw in September 2014.
== External links ==
* 
* 
* 
de:Rachel Nichols
Category:Performers
Category:Film performers