2000–2004: Early acting credits Nichols had done
commercial work and had a
bit part as a model in the romantic drama film
Autumn in New York (2000) Later that year she was cast in her first major film role as Jessica, a dogged
student newspaper reporter, in
Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003). Although the film was panned by critics, making it was a learning experience for Nichols. She said, "I was a sponge for the entire time I was in Atlanta [during filming] and freely admitted that I had no idea what was going on. I had never done a big film before, I had never been the lead in a film before and any advice anyone wanted to give me, I was more than willing to take." In late February 2004, Nichols was cast in a starring role in a then-untitled drama pilot for the
Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox). According to
Variety, her character was to be "a
DEA agent who goes undercover at a high school".
Todd and
Glenn Kessler were developing the series, ultimately titled
The Inside. The pilot they produced did not satisfy studio executives, however, and
Tim Minear was brought in to create a new pilot for the series in late September 2004, replacing the Kesslers as executive producer and showrunner.
The Inside was originally supposed to air midseason, but the new pilot itself was reshot and the series was pushed back. The new concept made Nichols' character a rookie
FBI agent assigned to the FBI's Los Angeles Violent Crimes Unit. The series premiered in June 2005, and critical reception was mixed; it had been scheduled opposite the popular
Dancing with the Stars on ABC, and due to low ratings, six of the 13 produced episodes were aired. It was not picked up for further episodes.
2005–2009: Breakthrough Following
The Inside, Nichols found work on the fifth season of the serial action series
Alias in 2005, being cast that July. Her role involved multiple fight sequences, as did Garner's. Nichols worked with Garner's personal trainer; Nichols was being groomed to replace Garner as the main character due to the latter's pregnancy, "I think everybody knew that the show wouldn't work without Jennifer", Nichols said, "But still, they were grooming me, so it was heartbreaking when it happened." and the
MTV Movie Award for Best Frightened Performance. She later revealed that she almost did not audition for the film due to her fear of dogs. "[Producer]
Michael Bay has these gigantic [dogs]. [...] And, when I went to audition for
The Amityville Horror, I went into his offices and literally these three huge dogs were there, and I almost turned around. I was like, 'No, I'm not going to read for this film.' I actually used the dogs in my audition to think of what would scare me the most."
The Amityville Horror received generally negative reception from critics, but was a commercial success.
The Woods, which had been shelved for around 18 months, was released directly-to-DVD in October 2006, to a positive critical response. Nichols had a small part in the drama film
Resurrecting the Champ (2007), playing the assistant to a sportswriter (
Josh Hartnett) who believes he has found a former boxing legend (
Samuel L. Jackson) living homeless on the streets. Also that year, Nichols had a bit part in the fact-based political drama ''
Charlie Wilson's War (2007) and was cast in a new science fiction drama television series Them'', which was ultimately not picked up by Fox. Her first starring film role was in the 2007 horror–thriller
P2, as a businesswoman who becomes trapped inside a public parking garage with a deranged security guard. About the dress her character wears for much of the film, Nichols said, "When I read the script originally, it wasn't a dress, it was a small nightgown with no bra or underwear. Then I read the first scene where she gets wet, and I went: 'OK, this has got to be altered! A bra was sewn into the "Marilyn Monroe dress" she wore in the film. She said, "I wasn't going to run around for two months without a bra, I thought that was inappropriate. But in place of the nipples there's clearly a lot of cleavage. So we made a compromise." Reviewer James Berardinelli said that her performance was "admirable, although one wonders whether she was cast more for her physical assets than her acting ability." John Anderson of
Variety wrote that "Nichols is in territory well trod over the years by everyone from
Fay Wray and
Grace Kelly to
Heather Langenkamp, the terrified but gutsy heroine, who in this case has been chloroformed and put into a sheer white evening dress by her abductor—who must have anticipated that his captive would try to escape in an elevator, which he could then fill with water. (Nichols' considerable physical attributes, henceforth, seem to occupy most of the screen.) She's sympathetic, hysterical when required and likeable." Nichols had a supporting role in
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008), playing a jealous friend of
America Ferrera's character. Overall, the film was well received by critics.
Roger Ebert commented that Nichols as her character Julia "proves a principle that should be in the Little Movie Glossary: If a short, curvy, sun-kissed heroine [Ferrera] has a tall, thin blond as a roommate, that blond is destined to be a bitch. No way around it." Stephen Holden, writing for
The New York Times, similarly said, "It falls to Ms. Nichols to play the movie's designated blond baddie, a cold, arrogant vixen who tries to undermine [Ferrera's character's] triumphs in romance and onstage." Nichols was cast in
Star Trek (2009) in November 2007, but due to the project's secrecy her role was initially unknown even to her; she said that month she did not even know her character's name. It was speculated that she would play
Janice Rand, but she would actually play an
Orion cadet at
Starfleet Academy. '', July 2009 Nichols was cast as
Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara in the live-action film adaptation of the
G.I. Joe franchise
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) in late 2007. She put on approximately of muscle for the role and trained in
mixed martial arts with co-star
Sienna Miller for some of the film's action sequences. Like
The Amityville Horror,
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was not well received by most critics, but performed well at the box office. Richard Corliss of
Time wrote that Nichols had "an appealing manner and comely biceps" as Scarlett O'Hara and took notice of her "savory girl fight with Sienna Miller, as the mostly villainous
Baroness." After
G.I. Joe, Nichols' next project was the horror film
For Sale by Owner, where she played the half of a newly wed couple buying a house with a secret past. The film only received a direct-to-DVD release.
2010s Nichols starred as a police detective assigned to investigate the murder of a young boy in the small-scale crime drama
Meskada (2010), which premiered at the
Tribeca Film Festival and received a limited theatrical release in North America. In the 3-D
sword and sorcery film
Conan the Barbarian, a reimagining of
the 1982 film, Nichols starred as a master of martial arts, a priestess, and the love interest of the titular character. She performed her own stunts in the high-stakes action scenes and fight sequences, but a double was used for a sex scene with co-star
Jason Momoa. Filming occurred between March and July 2010 in
Bulgaria, and
Conan was released on August 19, 2011. Budgeted at US$90million, the film received negative reviews, and only grossed US$48.8 worldwide.
Boston Globe felt that Nichols portrayed her "pure-blooded innocent" character with the "enthusiasm of a bored office receptionist". Nichols first guest starred in three episodes of the CBS television series
Criminal Minds and was then promoted as a series regular. Her role was
Ashley Seaver, an
FBI cadet assigned to the
BAU. The casting choice came amid uproar from the series' fanbase as she was brought in to replace exiting actresses
A.J. Cook and
Paget Brewster. However, as the season progressed, viewers eventually warmed to the character. "It just kind of worked. It was a long process," she said. It was eventually announced that Nichols had been let go from the show. Nichols next starred in the independent romantic comedy
A Bird of the Air (2011) as "a librarian who joins a highway patrolman to uncover the mysteries behind the cryptic sayings spoken by an ancient parrot." She described the production as a "quirky, edgy love story" and felt that her part was a "departure from some of the roles I've been offered". The film received a limited theatrical release and a mixed critical response.
The New York Times remarked that the actress "is consistently appealing in the kind of role
Zooey Deschanel has pretty much cornered", while the
Village Voice found her character to be a "grating twit". In
Continuum, a Canadian science fiction TV series, Nichols starred as a police officer against a group of
rebels from the year 2077 who
time-travel to
Vancouver in the year 2012. The series premiered on
Showcase on May 27, 2012, and its first episode became the highest-rated episode in the network's history.
Continuum ran for four seasons until October 9, 2015, and earned Nichols a
Constellation Award and two
Saturn Award nominations for
Best Actress on Television. Nichols starred opposite
Tyler Perry in the thriller
Alex Cross (2012), as the blighted colleague of a psychologist and police lieutenant. Like
Conan, her previous
wide release, the film garnered negative reviews, and made a lackluster US$34.6million worldwide. In the independent
exploitation film Raze (2013), she appeared opposite
Zoë Bell as women forced to fight against each other for the twisted entertainment of the wealthy elite. Nichols is credited as an executive producer in the film, and was drawn to the project for its female "empowering" message, remarking: "Give us a challenge and we'll meet it. We're stronger than you think we are. I loved that about it. That was what drew me to it and that's what had always been promised". She next starred with
Nicolas Cage in the action thriller
Rage (2014), as the wife of a reformed criminal seeking his own brand of justice after their daughter gets kidnapped. The film was released for selected theaters and VOD. In 2014, she made a one-episode appearance in the
Lifetime series
Witches of East End and debuted in a recurring arc in
USA Network's
Rush. The following year, she obtained a recurring role as a "problem employee at the law firm she works at" in the
fourth season of
Chicago Fire. Nichols starred in the science-fiction thriller
Pandemic (2016) as a doctor who leads a group to find survivors of a worldwide
pandemic. The film was released for selected theaters and VOD, and in its review,
The Hollywood Reporter remarked that Nichols "attempts to adopt an attitude somewhere between shell-shocked survivor and sympathetic physician, but doesn't manage to fulfill the role's potential". In
Inside (2016), a Spanish-American remake of the
2007 French horror film of the same name, Nichols took on the starring role of a pregnant woman accosted in her home by an unknown woman who intends to steal her baby. The film was released in Spanish cinemas on July 28, 2017, where it made US$557,083, and in the United States on January 12, 2018. Nichols next obtained another recurring role on television as a former guardian who has been thrust back five centuries into the past to finally move forward, in the fourth season of the
TNT fantasy series
The Librarians. For her four-episode performance, she received a Saturn Award nomination for
Best Guest Starring Role on Television. In 2019, Nichols had a five-episode run as Martha Stroud, a
Gestapo bodyguard, on the fourth season of the
alternate history series
The Man in the High Castle. == Personal life ==