Does Rachel Nichols Do Her Own Stunts?

Celebrity Q&A, Featured Article, Movies
on March 6, 2013
Continuum - Season 1
CONTINUUM -- Gallery -- Pictured: Rachel Nichols as Kiera Cameron -- (Photo by: Kharen Hill/Syfy)
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I love that Rachel Nichols has done several action roles like “The Inside,” “Alias” and now Syfy’s “Continuum.” I am curious if she does her own stunts.
—Claire Sweeney, Cleveland, Ohio

Nichols, 33, admits she enjoys carrying guns and active roles, so she has tried to find strong female roles in her career and thinks herself fortunate to have landed several.

“I consider myself lucky to have a fan base that finds me completely believable and interesting in powerful, action-oriented roles because they’re so much fun to play,” says the Augusta, Maine-born actress. “I would like to keep doing them for a long time to come.”

Nichols knows what she is capable of and when to call for help, so when a stunt is too dangerous, she enlists the services of a good stuntwoman. Currently, Monique Ganderton, 32, who doubled Nichols on “Conan the Barbarian,” is working with her on “Continuum,” in which Nichols plays Kiera Cameron, a cop from the future who finds herself trapped in the present day.

“Ever since I was on ‘Alias,’ I’ve worked with some incredible and very impressive stunt women,” she says. “Shauna Duggins doubled me in ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.’ I worked with Zoe Bell in ‘Raze’ but also when I was on ‘Alias,’ and now Monique.”

Nichols says that she first met Ganderton when she was in Bulgaria shooting “Conan,” and that Ganderton flew in to be with her boyfriend, who was the double for Stephen Lang, but also in hopes of landing the job with Nichols.

“They wanted to hire someone very inexpensively in Bulgaria,” Nichols recalls. “But Monique thought, ‘I would be a good double for Rachel,’ and she flew herself to Bulgaria. I was just blown away by that. I just thought, ‘I’ve got to take this girl with me everywhere I go.’”

Nichols’ other film credits include “Alex Cross,” “Star Trek,” “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “The Sister of the Traveling Pants 2,” “Shopgirl,” “The Amityville Horror” and “Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd.”