Rachel Emily Nichols (born January 8, 1980) is an American actress and model. Nichols began modeling while attending Columbia University in New York City in the late 1990s, and transitioned into acting by the early 2000s; she had a part in the romantic drama "Autumn in New York" (2000) and a one-episode role in the fourth season of "Sex and the City" (2002). Her first major role was in the comedy "" (2003), and she went on to achieve wider recognition playing Rachel Gibson in the final season of the action television series "Alias" (2005–2006) and for her role in the horror film "The Amityville Horror" (2005).