Interview with Rachel Nichols!!!

I got an ALL EXCLUSIVE interview with RACHEL NICHOLS, from CRIMINAL MINDS, who is simply made of sugar and spice and everything awesome!!!! My questions are in bold, her answers in regular font! Enjoy!

Did you watch Criminal Minds before coming on the show? Who is your favourite character?

I did watch CM prior to joining the show, but I never really had a favorite character. Actually, that's what I think makes the show great; there's something to like in every member of the cast.

Did you have to read the FBI manual or go through any training for the role?

As far as training is concerned, I was pretty well-equipped... Given my time on "The Inside" and "Alias" and "GI Joe", I had spent some serious time in physical training... but I'd love to see a manual!

Have you met or talked to the actual profilers who help out with the show?

CM has an unbelievable team of experienced individuals that helps the show be as accurate as possible. There is always someone on hand to help out and make our words and actions authentic. I'm extremely grateful for all of them.

Is there something from the stuff you guys deal with on CM that stays with you? Are you more wary now?

I'm so new to the show that I have not yet had the experience of something specific "sticking with me" although I'm sure it will happen. I've had dreams about certain episodes, but nothing that I haven't been able to recover from come sunrise.

What has been the most exciting scene for you to film on Criminal Minds?

It's impossible to talk about my favorite scenes without giving away crucial parts about future shows. The good news is that there are many great pieces to come... There is a lot happening this season and that, in itself, is exciting for me and, hopefully, the fans. Sorry for being vague... I just don't want to give away any sacred secrets!

Do the cast or crew play any pranks on you? If yes, could you tell us something they've done?

We do laugh a lot, but not necessarily due to pranks. If I get "punked" anytime soon, I'll let you know. I'm sure it has happened in the past!

What has your biggest blooper moment been so far?

I tripped. Nearly fell. It was awkward. Enough said. :)

From your tweets, we can gather that there are some klutzy moments in your life. What has been your biggest klutz adventure?

I am such a klutz. Unavoidably so. Guess I was born with that specific gene. As far as "biggest klutz adventures" are concerned... I once was a waitress on the coast of Maine during the summer and, one day, carrying a large tray filled with food I ran smack into the patio door... Guess it was so clean that I thought it was open! I smashed my head on the glass and dropped all the entrees and then I did the only thing fitting for such a situation; I took a bow, cleaned up the mess... and went to the bathroom for fear that I'd die of embarrassment! Not my best moment. Funny now. Horrific then. I never lived that down!

We can see that you've graduated with a double major in economics and maths from Columbia. With that background, what drove you to get into acting?

I was in the right place at the right time. Education always came first, but I had extremely supportive parents that wanted me to experience everything this world had to offer. Without their love and guidance, I never would've taken the chances that I did... and I wouldn't be where I am today. Their support enabled me to breathe and, in turn, discover a career that makes me happy. They always told me I could be anything I wanted to be (except a singer because I'm tone deaf) and that allowed me to trust my instincts and follow my heart. Yeah, sounds cheesy, I know, but it is the truth. I can only hope to be half as good a parent to my own children someday. They left some pretty big shoes for me to fill!

This is a list of favourites

a) Downtime snack on set: I should probably say something healthy, but, the truth is, I love Cheetos... because there's not always a barrel of cheese-balls handy!

b) Colour: When people ask me this question I always ask: "to wear or to look at"? My favorite color to wear is white. My favorite color to look at is soft, sunshine yellow... It is happiness defined by color.

c) Movie and TV Show: I couldn't possible choose a favorite movie, so here are a few: Silence of the Lambs, Withnail and I, The Sweetest Thing, Casablanca, It's a Wonderful Life, Despicable Me, The Little Mermaid, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, V for Vendetta, Beautiful Girls, Closer, To Kill A Mockingbird, and so many more. As for TV shows, the same goes, so here are a few; 30 Rock, The United States of Tara, Californication, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Alias, Law & Order, 60 Minutes... Good golly, I could go on and on...

d) Place you'd like to visit or have visited: Paris Paris Paris. All the time. Any time. Forever.

e) Award show: Impossible question to answer... :)

Disclaimer: This interview is the property of Rachel Nichols Online and Romy Skye's World. Do not reproduce or quote this interview without our permission or providing the source.

When you use twitter to recollect what's been happening

Life has definitely not been uneventful! I wonder if I should write everything here, cause my mother reads this thing sometimes I think... It's not adventures beginning with "I went to a party and got smashed" but more stories that will make her (or any person) rethink her insurance policies...

So, now I have my tweets in order, let's start addressing what's been happening (yes I'm that lame, deal with it!).

Are you guys junkies? Do you do something to get that high? That thrill? Most people go bungee jumping or do some other horrific activity for that rush. I, let deadlines get really close and then go nuts trying to meet them!! I love that rush, the stress, the fast pace!! (This is why I would love NYC if it weren't for the frigid weather!) Anyway, I'm doing that right now! Oh well!!

I also finally acknowledge that I'm a cheese-sleeper. I feel so freaking sleepy after I eat cheese!! Then, I saw the Parenthood episode, that had Lauren Graham dancing freestyle! So funny!!! I love this new show. I'm not as passionate about it as I am about Criminal Minds or Bones, but it's fast becoming one of my favourites. Private Practice is now slipping in my opinion. It's getting harder to watch as we go along. I'm hoping the death of a character will be for the good of the show (KILL PETE OFF PLEASE!!!). I've also started watching Castle, which is airing now in India. It's interesting... Let's see what happens.

I got my appraisal at work and it's seriously good which is awesome!!! I get a better bonus, which means more spending money in the States!! Whoop! The big thing that happened in April was that Julia came to visit! We had a BLAST when she was here and I made her try all kinds of fruit and some Indian food! Was fun! She liked most of it I think! And she didn't find Bangalore's 38C hot after spending time in Delhi's 44C!!! We met my friends clubbing, shopped a little, saw some sights and sounds.

A special shout out to my friend Sabine, who sent me the best marzipan ever!! SO FREAKING YUMMY! Loved every bit of it!

This week has been BIZARRE!! One bad thing after another!! Let's start with Monday, where I hit a bus. yeah. I hit the bus. It was stationary and I walked into it. how does one not see a bus I have no clue. Then spent the rest of the day getting so many mails, that I started seeing imaginary blue email pop-ups! Scary!

Tuesday was literally shit. I woke up with an awful headache, feeling sick and finding out that my doggie had pooped on the living room floor!!! And it was the loose variety! Cleaning smelly poop while already feeling nauseous... Not fun.

The better part of the day was actually talking to Neoshia, who I'm meeting in LA in July!! We're going to Paget's show together!! I'm super excited about that!

Wednesday fared no better. I had a MASSIVE headache on Tuesday so I slept at 7pm that night and woke up to a flooded house! Slight exaggeration, but water was in my room and my mum's room!! I've slept through earthquakes, so I didn't hear the storm outside and the rain had come in through the open windows. I feel awful for my baby who hates the rain as much as I do! I was out cold, but she wasn't!!!

I also heard Paget sing for the first time.. OMG she is freaking awesome! Didn't think she sang this well. It's on YouTube. Search for "Paget Brewster Common Rotation". She sings the song Diamonds are Forever.

Thursday (yesterday) was so much better!! I went out to Woodstok for lunch. Amazing food and very nice place! And I saw Chris Phieffer, the world number one stunt biker perform. It was super amazing!!! Suddenly, I want to marry a stunt biker!! :P

Today is uneventful, apart from the fact that I counted a lady's tires!!! 5 freaking tires!! I have no issues with weight, but dude! Dress according to your size! Wearing lycra when you are not on the skinny side is NOT COOL!

Hope you have fun reading this!! I had fun writing this!!!

Fanfiction!

I was introduced to this world about a year ago. Since then I've become obsessed with it! I love the idea of a fan coming up with their own stories, interpretations of characters and situations! So far, I've written for Gilmore Girls, Private Practice and Parenthood. These are all dramas and I enjoy writing them.

I really would like to write a fic for Criminal Minds or Bones, but I have no clue! most of my stories have dealt with couples or family units that have already been created (Lorelai&Chris; Addison&Kevin; Addison&Sam and Sarah&Amber/Drew), so writing something that is so new and not created by the show's writer is going to be hard. Writing for Bones is going to be very, very hard because I need, at least, preliminary knowledge of forensic anthropology and I have NO clue. They have a pairing that I can work with though - Booth/Brennan.

Criminal Minds would be a challenge as they all function effectively as a team and at the end of the day, anyone can be paired with anyone. I don't know if I should write a ship (pairing) or just leave it as a team. A ship would be easier to write as the focus is on 2 characters instead of the usual 7! Plus you get to not really include characters you aren't too fond of (read Hotch.)

The other challenge is the case that they need to work on. I can take them on a vacation etc, but how absolutely boring! I need to find a good case for them to work on! I need to finally put my psychology degree into good use.

So it's kind of official. I will be writing a Criminal Minds, ship driven fic. Right now I'm also writing a Addisam fic and my first and only Parenthood fic. I hope i can do a good job to the CM fic. Wish me luck!

Birthday week, trees, reunions and hamsters!

Wow. This has been an amazing two weeks. I have some of the most amazing friends ever. I had an amazing time as I turned the dreaded 23 and realised it wasn't so bad, until I discovered my first white hair. This is when I curse being born a brunette. If I were blonde, I wouldn't even have noticed. Oh well.

I met some classmates, some of whom I hadn't seen in 13 years! I left that school in 6th grade. It was super fun to see what people were doing. I was shocked to know that a classmate worked with another friend at KPMG! Two of them are doctors now (it's so unreal cause I still remember the 10 year old them!) It was cool that i could recognise them, though they looked a little different.

What was funny was that apparently, some people who had seen me through the years at various places had said that I was really tall. The organiser asked if I was as tall as him, he is 6'3". I said no (horrified that someone thought I was that tall! If I was, I'd have packed my bags ages ago to live with Norse people who descend from the Vikings!)

The thing that rankled me a little were comments about me being skinny. I'll say it one last time - I have never been remotely not skinny for the last 23 years, and from the looks of it, I will be this way for the next 23 years. GET OVER IT! And done.

My birthday week was everything it promised. It started on Saturday, the 27th of Feb, with a nice lunch at the Leela (Citrus) and 12 kinds of dessert. I had to forgo dinner that day. So freaking full! Monday was super busy at work, so that went by quickly. I also donated my birthday clothes money to charity, which made me feel good. I was a little upset that I didn't have new clothes on the day, but I got over it. Maybe cause it was a human charity :P Tuesday was again semi busy and was filled with anticipation for Wednesday which was "The Day". Wednesday dawned early, at 12:30am to be exact with a call from my best friend. I caught snatches of sleep but was too hyped up to actually fall back asleep. I ended up playing with my doggie for a couple hours which was perfect.

I went to my gran's place for breakfast, which was awesome cause I got 3 flower arrangements! All purple flowers which kicked ass! Then I headed out to visit the Air Force (HAL) museum with Vishwa, which totally rocked. Let's just say, Freud would LOVE me and my fascinations with airplanes! At work I was given presents which were ALL purple! It was awesome! I was even wearing purple! I also took my mum and my bestie (Swathi) to dinner at a new restaurant called Fireflies. Didn't realise it was a seafood and grill. Fun when all three of us are vegetarian.

My TV obsession has been recognised by whatever force it is that runs the universe! Wednesday (India time) was the premiere of Parenthood, Lauren Graham's TV serial, Thursday was Matthew Gray Gubler's Criminal Mind's directorial debut ad Friday was the release of Kate Walsh's movie, Legion. Like really, all this is too cool to be just a coincidence!

If you believe that if you fall on your birthday, you will fall for the rest of the year, then you will agree with me that I made sure that the klutz events will continue this year as well. I had to run to catch a bus to the museum, so while running, I tripped and smacked my entire left side into a tree!!! A freaking TREE! Can I say OW? The only good thing about that was being able to call people back and say "Oh I'm sorry I didn't answer your call, I was too busy running into a tree."

With animal adventures, these two weeks have been cow-less. My hamster, Addison Lorelai, though has made it her mission to wake me up for the last 3 days at 3am!!!! How? First she climbs to the top of the cage and falls down with a thump, then runs on the wheel, then rips up the newspaper on the bottom, then chews on the bars of her cage, making twanging noises!!!!! This all after buying her various hamster teething toys so that she can stop chewing on those bars!!! all this starts exactly at 2:30am and I'm up at 3!

My life is definitely interesting. I can say that.

Birthdays!

Until now, I have always looked forward to my birthday, adding that extra candle on my cake, hopefully not getting carded at the movies (what the hell, I'm waay over 18!) and the presents. It starts on January 3rd, the countdown leading up to March 3rd, which is the big day. I plan everything in advance, let people know to block a particular day around that day and go crazy with anticipation.

This year, I turn the magic number of 23. It's not exciting at all!!! Nothing big about turning 23. At 22, you've just graduated college, you are officially a contributing member of society, it's a fun age to be! Everyone says "Oh! I wish I were 22." Clearly good things happen. I got on Twitter, made a whole host of very nice friends, "talked" to Kate Walsh (She tweeted a couple times) and Amy Brenneman (more than a couple times), Spent New Year with Jasmin and Summer (quiet, but fun), modelled, acted and generally had a blast. There were downs like me not being able to go to NYC to see Lauren Graham on Broadway (I really really wanted to go), literally not stepping out of the city and something that is on my mind, my birthday party being a bust cause a lot of people very unkindly didn't show up, and told me they weren't coming after I called them to find out where they were. (Yeah, I'm holding a grudge cause that is just really, really mean).

This year, I am not really planning much for my birthday, just a dinner with my family and best friend. However, the 23rd year of my life seems quite promising. I have learnt to wear heels, which I will wear on Wednesday, Jasmin (my German penfriend) is coming to visit me and we are going to have SO much fun, I will be going to NYC, LA and SF this year, Parenthood (the series with LG), Matthew Gray Gubler's directorial debut on Criminal Minds (both on my birthday!!) and just chilling out. I am really looking forward to this year, except the turning 23 bit. That is a real downer.

I was going to not do anything at all and generally sulk through my birthday, but I am happy that I was born, I love the life that I live and the people in it, I adore my doggie and I must say I could do a LOOOOOOTTT worse. So, I am not going to sulk, but I'm going to be happy and celebrate the small things in life.

Now that you have gotten through my rambling, here are the funny things that happened. I was going in an auto-rickshaw (google it) with Gyp and as we were going round a big circle, the auto went real close to a cow. Yes a cow. It was flicking off flies with it's tail and essentially wagging it for lack of a better word. Gyp was leaning out, her head out of the auto's side and suddenly she got whacked on the face by the cow's tail!!! She was stunned! She froze for a Milli-second before rushing back inside the auto and then sniffing the entire auto for the smell (of the cow)! It was so funny! I feel bad for her, but I cannot stop laughing.

That's it for now. I'll be back with a birthday update.

PS: Happy Birthday Alina!!! <3