When told that she had a spooky resemblance to Clarice Starling which only added to The Silence of the Lambs (1991) vibe to a TV series where Rachel Nichols [Conan the Barbarian] portrayed a FBI profiler hunting down serial killers, the actress laughs, “That’s so funny you said that! It happened a lot when I was younger. The one person people ever said that I looked like was Jodie Foster. When Tim Minear [Firefly] came on to retool the original pilot of The Inside [Fox, 2005] that was his inspiration. He said, ‘Jodie Foster and The Silence of the Lambs.’ She has always been one of my absolute favourites. I adore that comment because that was exactly what we were going for. I loved the show and working on it. It got the short end of the stick because with actors Peter Coyote [Sphere] and Adam Baldwin [Full Metal Jacket], and Tim Minear writing the show it could have been so much more. It was such a heartbreak for me when it ended abruptly after 13 episodes.” When Minear retooled the concept he did a complete overhaul. “It literally started off it was 21 Jump Street [Fox, 1987 to 1991] and I was Johnny Depp [Transcendence]. Then it turned into The Silence of the Lambs and I was Jodie Foster. Everything changed.”
When it came to meeting Oscar-winning filmmaker Mike Nichols (The Graduate) during the shooting of Charlie Wilson’s War (2007), Rachel Nichols reveals, “I have never gotten weak in the knees or shy around anyone and I’ve met everyone in the business. I’ve always been a fan of Mike Nichols. I loved Closer [2004] and adored his earlier work. I was so nervous because I didn’t meet him before I got the job. My first day on-set he came up to me and said, ‘Apparently we’re related.’ His daughter –in-law is Rachel Nichols who is on CNN and formerly on ESPN. I buckled a little bit as I turned around and there’s Mike Nichols. I said, ‘Mr. Nichols if we were related I would have used this relationship a long time ago.’ He has got this great belly laugh. When you hear him laugh it would make everyone in the world smile. I was immediately put to ease. Mike Nichols is amazing. He’s lovely. I would play an extra in the background on one day of work to work with him again. It was so much fun and carefree. It wasn’t at all strict. Everyone was having a great time. Plus working with Tom Hanks [Apollo 13] who is extremely lovely and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman [The Master] was also extremely lovely; it was one of the best experiences I have ever had.”
Originally published May 9, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
