ESC Hot Girl of the week! (05/10/09)

Rachel Emily Nichols
Born January 8, 1980 Rachel is an American actress, best known for her portrayal of CIA officer Rachel Gibson on the ABC television series Alias. She's also starred in several films, including Dumb and Dumberer, The Amityville Horror, The Woods, and most recently the new Star Trek.

The daughter of Jim and Alison Nichols, Nichols was born and raised in Augusta, Kennebec County, Maine. She attended Cony High School, where she competed in the high jump.As a sophomore at Cony, she studied abroad in France. Nichols admitted to Latino Review that she "wasn't the hot chick" in high school, referring to herself instead as a "late bloomer".Upon graduating in 1998, she headed to Columbia University in New York City, intent on studying psychology. While growing up, Nichols enjoyed trekking through the outdoors and loved windsurfing, sailing and "just being on the water".

According to Nichols, she stumbled into modeling accidentally: "I was in the right place at the right time and decided to give modeling a try." While posing for companies like Guess? and Abercrombie & Fitch, she also enrolled in drama classes at Columbia. She maintained a difficult schedule throughout college, balancing her studies in New York City with photo shoots in Europe. In 2002, Nichols decided to really pursue acting in earnest.

I'm personally looking forward to seeing her play Scarlett in the upcoming movie G.I Joe; Rise of Cobra, cause seriously just look at those boobies!

[image above is Rachel in her "Scarlett Character" for G.I Joe]

She also gets this week's ESC: "I'd Hit it 2 Times!" Award. Congrats! (now you'll have a bunch of Trekkie's spanking the sausage over you.)