Actress Rachel Nichols Has Fans Buzzing About Her Roles in the New Star Trek and G.I. Joe Movies

If you thought Rachel Nichols turned heads among the coveted young male audience with her role in the TV series Alias, wait until you see what she does to them when she appears as a Starfleet cadet in the new Star Trek movie. The young actress - not to be confused with Rachel Nichols the ESPN reporter - beds none other than Capt. James T Kirk in the movie, which premieres May 8^th.

Nichols plays an Orion, known to Star Trek followers as the green-skinned staples of the galactic sex trade. She became the center of speculation after two quick shots of an underwear-clad actor Christopher Pine, who plays Kirk, appeared in bed atop a woman in a trailer for the Star Trek reboot.

It was Pine who first leaked to E! Online confirmation that his companion was, in fact, Nichols' character. But for Pine, while he welcomed the chance "to make out with a hot girl," it was all in a day's work.

"It was a lot of fun, but I think that day actually was a 20-hour-day," he said. "So by the end, the novelty wears off. After many sandwiches and meals through the day, all you want to do is brush your teeth and go home."

For her part, Nichols will say very little about her Star Trek role - let alone her love scenes with Pine. She won't dish on the green skin, but she did open up a little to her hometown newspaper about the color of her hair.

"I was a redhead for Star Trek and G.I. Joe. For the first time in my life I had to dye my hair," she said. "In all my years of modeling I never had to dye my hair. I worked with J.J. (Abrams, the director of Star Trek) before in Alias, and he asked really nicely if I would dye my hair."

Orions first appeared in Star Trek lore at the very beginning. In fact, they even preceded Capt. Kirk. An Orion danced for the Enterprise's Capt. Pike in the pilot for the original TV series. The scenes were later re-used for a two-part Star Trek episode once the series went into production. The Orions' backstory was filled out even further in both the Deep Space Nine and Enterprise series.

While shooting Star Trek, Nichols scored her role in G.I. Joe and the producers of that film told her to stick with the redhead look.

"I had red hair up until five weeks before my wedding. It's the sexiest red color you've even seen."

In G. I. Joe, Nichols plays an intelligence agent. Co-star Sienna Miller has been raving to reporters about the fight scene the two share.

"Rachel Nichols and I have one of the toughest girl fights I think people will ever see," Miller says. "I mean, it's chains and it's brutal, nasty, dirty fighting - proper boy fighting."

G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra hits theaters in August.

Marc Malkin, "Star Trek Sex Secrets From the New Capt. Kirk", E! Online

Betty Adams, "Newlywed Rachel Nichols' career on the fast track" Morning Sentinel

"Orion Slave Girls "Bound" for Glory", StarTrek.com

David Bentley, "Sienna Miller tells of G.I. Joe terrors - and a nasty fight with Rachel Nichols", Coventry Telegraph