American actress Marisol Nichols was born on November 2, 1973 in Chicago, Illinois. Born to Romanian and Mexican-American parents, she dealt with alcohol and drug addiction when she was just 12 years old, although she has remained sober since she turned 17. A graduate of the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, she kicked off her acting career in 1996, when she starred in the short-lived comedy My Guys.
Nichols has since appeared in many different television series such as Beverly Hills 90210, Diagnosis Murder, Odd Man Out, Boy Meets World, Resurrection Blvd., Alias, CSI, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Nip/Tuck and Charmed. Her first film role was in the 1997 comedy Vegas Vacation, and has gone on to play roles in films like Scream 2, Bowfinger, The Road Home and Big Momma’s House 2. Her performance in the television film The Princess & the Marine earned her a best actress nomination from the ALMA Awards in 2001.
Nichols’ first major regular television role was in the short-lived police drama Blind Justice, where she played skeptical police officer Karen Bettancourt, the professional partner of blind Jim Dunbar (Ron Eldard). In 2006, this was followed by a role in another short-lived police procedural drama In Justice, where she plays the role of Sonya Quintano, member of a team who fight to free those who have been wrongly convincted of crimes.
Nichols then took on a role in the successful action series 24. Her character, Nadia Yassir, was introduced in the show’s sixth season. After auditioning four times for other roles, she finally played the character of the Pakistani-American CTU agent who became the organization’s head at one point, when Bill Buchanan (James Morrison) was terminated. She was also, at one point, the love interest of Milo Pressman (Eric Balfour).