American actor, known for Alias and Continuum, who played the Orion Starfleet cadet Gaila, Uhura's roommate at the Academy, in the 2009 Star Trek film.
Rachel Nichols is an American actor, born in 1980, whose television work includes the final season of Alias, Criminal Minds and the lead role of Kiera Cameron in the Canadian science fiction series Continuum. Her films include G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and Conan the Barbarian.
In Star Trek (2009) she plays Gaila, a green-skinned Orion cadet at Starfleet Academy who shares quarters with Uhura and is romantically involved with James T. Kirk. Kirk uses her access to the simulator computers to plant the subroutine that lets him beat the Kobayashi Maru test.
Nichols had previously worked for J.J. Abrams on Alias, and the role made her one of the few Orions to be shown serving in Starfleet.