Marisol Nichols

Marisol Nichols

Active - 1997 - 2021  |   Born - Nov 2, 1973 in Chicago, Illinois, United States  |   Genres - Drama, Mystery, Thriller

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Biography by AllMovie

After a string of guest roles on TV and bit parts in movies, actress Marisol Nichols gained prominence as the lead in the 2001 made-for-television romantic drama The Princess and the Marine. Playing an Arab princess who falls in love with an American Marine, Nichols delivered a performance that earned her the Outstanding Actress in a Made for Television Movie or Miniseries prize at the 2002 American Latino Media Arts Awards. More supporting roles on TV followed until 2005, when Nichols landed the female lead opposite Ron Eldard on the Steven Bochco-produced cop show Blind Justice. The series proved to be short-lived, but Nichols' status as a lead performer was cemented, and in 2006 she was cast on the Kyle MacLachlan legal drama In Justice. That same year, she appeared with Martin Lawrence in the comedy sequel Big Momma's House 2. In 2007, In Justice got the axe from ABC, but not before Nichols joined the cast of Fox's hit serial 24 as Nadia Yassir, a U.S. counter-terrorism agent of Middle Eastern descent struggling with an atmosphere of deepening distrust toward Arabs in the wake of a fictional terrorist attack. For the next few years it appeared as if Nichols was focusing all of her energies toward television, with featuerd roles in The Storm, The Gates, and GCB following in quick succession, and serving well to keep ehr in the public eye.

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Factsheet

  • Made her big-screen debut as Audrey Griswold in the fourth installment of the Chevy Chase Vacation series, Vegas Vacation (1997).
  • Earned a Golden Eagle Award for Most Promising Actress for her portrayal of troubled teen Victoria Santiago on the Showtime drama Resurrection Blvd.
  • CTU Chief of Staff Nadia Yassir was the fourth role that she auditioned for on the Fox thriller series 24.
  • Has said pronouncing Arabic words and memorizing technical lines were two of the biggest challenges she faced on 24.
  • Starred on several short-lived ABC dramas, including Blind Justice, In Justice and The Gates.
  • Spokesperson for the Church of Scientology-associated Criminon, which assists in inmate rehabilitation, and the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a mental-health watchdog group.
  • Is of Hungarian, Romanian and Latin American descent, but is often cast as Middle Eastern characters.