Background
Nichols was born in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, to a father of Hungarian and Romanian descent (whom she has never met) and a Texan mother, Maria, of Spanish and Mexican ancestry.
Nichols was born in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, to a father of Hungarian and Romanian descent (whom she has never met) and a Texan mother, Maria, of Spanish and Mexican ancestry.
She was raised in Naperville, Illinois. She is the oldest of three siblings, having two younger brothers. A rebellious teenager, Marisol Nichols stated in an interview with AskMen.com, "I remember being 17 and looking around at some of the people that I was hanging out with, and I had this realization that if I didn"t knock this off now it would become my life", and replaced her rebellious behavior with more productive activities like acting.
In 1996, she appeared in episodes of Due South and Beverly Hills, 90210.
In 1997 she made her movie debut in the film Vegas Vacation with Chevy Chase. From 2000 to 2002, she played Bahraini Princess, (Sheika) Meriam First Rate (at Lloyd's) Khalifa in the highly anticipated, true, made for television movie The Princess and the Marine.
She also starred in the Showtime drama series Resurrection Boulevard In 2003, she made guest appearances on episodes of Friends, Computer Society of India: Crime Scene Investigation, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Nip/Tuck and Charmed.
Marisol"s Charmed episode, "Chris-Crossed," was the show"s "highest-rated non-season-premiere episode".
In 2006, she appeared in six episodes of Cold Case and starred in the film Big Momma"s House 2. She starred in the short-lived television series Blind Justice in 2005 and In Justice, in 2006. In 2007, she starred in 24 as Special Agent Nadia Yassir.
In 2008, she starred in the film Felon with Stephen Dorff.
In 2010, Nichols portrayed Sarah Monahan in the short-lived supernatural crime drama The Gates, a summer series on American Broadcasting Company. Nichols"s character will appear in the sixth episode of Season 2. She also had a cameo in Kristin Chenoweth"s music video for I Want Somebody (Bitch About).
In 2012 Nichols starred in the American Broadcasting Company television series Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, with Leslie Bibb, Kristin Chenoweth, Annie Potts, Jennifer Aspen and Miriam Shor.