Marisol Nichols is putting aside her badge to live with vampires. The 36-year-old Mexican beauty, who once starred as the headstrong agent Nadia Yassir in the hit television show “24,” has moved on to darker pastures where bloodsuckers are ready to strike. In the new TV series “The Gates,” Nichols is set to star as Sarah Monahan who’ll do anything to save her family. Mission impossible? Not for the Chicago-born actress who loves a challenge. Throughout her career, Nichols has appeared in some of the most popular shows in television, including “CSI,” “Law & Order,” and “ER.” This damsel, with her smoldering good looks, is rarely seen in distress, preferring to kick butt. Can she do the same as a housewife? With “The Gates” garnering high praises before its premiere on Sunday, June 20th, we have a feeling she’ll do just fine. The surprisingly bubbly star took a break from fighting evil to chat with nocheLatina about unleashing a potential hit and whether she’ll reprise her role in “24” for the movie.
nocheLatina: What can audiences expect from ‘The Gates?’
Marisol Nichols: It’s sort of a ‘Desperate Housewives’ meets Twilight. It’s really about a well to do gated community in anywhere, America that my family moves to. We slowly discover that The Gates is not as it seems. The other families have secrets involving werewolves and vampires. The Gates was put there to keep them away from the real world.
nocheLatina: How is it different from anything else that you’ve done?
Marisol Nichols: It’s so different! First of all, I’m not playing a cop, an FBI agent, or CTU, which is what I play a lot of. I really love the role. My character Sarah, as well as her family, are the only humans. You see things from her eyes. She is moving her family there because it’s their second chance. They went through a really hard time in Chicago. She’s willing to do anything to keep her family together.
nocheLatina: What are your thoughts on the vampire/werewolf phenomenon in Hollywood?
Marisol Nichols: People have forever been into vampires. It’s just a weird fascination with creatures of the night. Even werewolves, there wouldn’t be so many films and stories if it weren’t for people wanting to learn more. I think it’s just the idea that there’s something else out there and that’s intriguing.
nocheLatina: Why is it that viewers, particularly women, can’t get enough of watching supernatural creatures?
Marisol Nichols: I love science fiction. I’ve always been fascinated by it ever since I saw Star Wars as a kid. I think, especially when you’re a kid, you let your imagination go wild and make up all these stories of creatures. Also, I think vampires have this sexiness to them. You couldn’t beat Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt playing vampires. That just did it for women everywhere.
nocheLatina: People are especially talking about how ‘The Gates’ has the ‘Desperate Housewives’ time slot.
Marisol Nichols: I completely scored! It’s really setting us up nicely and I appreciate the fact that ABC is backing it. There’s nothing worse than being a part of a project that the network doesn’t believe in. It can make or break a show completely. Shows come and go and you’re like ‘Wow, I didn’t even know that was on.’ There was either no advertising or the time slot was terrible.
nocheLatina: Why should viewers watch ‘The Gates?’
Marisol Nichols: First of all, I think it’s an exciting show that you can get addicted to very fast. Each person is fighting for something that’s at stake, and as funny as this is going to sound, it’s for blood. It doesn’t seem like it would be that deep because of the whole vampire/werewolf thing, but it’s a drama, like ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’
nocheLatina: You’re known for playing an agent in ‘24’ and in the past, you’ve mentioned that you gravitate towards roles where the woman is in command. Why is it important for you to be the woman on top?
Marisol Nichols: We still live in a world where men make more money doing the same job that women do. The only way that’s going to change is the constant reminder of…hello, we’re not second class citizens! Even though it’s been so many years since we first got the right to vote, which I still can’t believed we had to fight for it begin with, there’s still a little bit of prejudice that women aren’t strong, independent beings. We are! Ask any man and they’ll tell you, ‘I couldn’t do it without my wife.’ We’re really good at that and we’re multi-taskers. We have the greatest gift in the world because we can have babies, but that’s not all we can do. Look, I don’t want to play G.I. Jane and I don’t want to be a man at all. I love being a woman, but I love being a strong woman.
nocheLatina: What are your thoughts on the success of ‘24?’
Marisol Nichols: ‘24’ was just a beautiful concept. No one has ever done that, an entire season in one day. That’s brilliant! I think the concept alone got viewers to watch. Then you had a dream team of Kiefer Sutherland, whom I had the pleasure of working with. He’s so dedicated, passionate, and such a commanding force. He’s definitely a leader. He pours himself into the role of Jack Bauer, which people can relate to. Audiences can follow him and get caught up in his passions. I mean, there was this whole campaign of Jack Bauer for President! And then you have Jon Cassar, who won the Golden Globe for ’24.’ He’s one of the kindest directors I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. I love him to death. You just can’t believe these people exist.
nocheLatina: There’s a lot of talk about a possible movie. Will you be involved with that project?
Marisol Nichols: I have no idea, but if asked, I would absolutely take it on.
nocheLatina: In addition to being a mother, wife, and actress, you’re also involved with various organizations in Chicago. Why does the Fight for Kids campaign affect you, as well as improving the lives of juveniles?
Marisol Nichols: Fight for Kids is my passion. It’s a necessity. You have a kid who doesn’t have a voice yet and he’s having some problems at school. The solution nowadays has been to give him a drug. It’s so obnoxious to me. What about tutors or checkups? Maybe they weren’t taught to read, which could be affecting their behavior. Maybe they’re bored at school. As an adult, I get bored too. I hated school. I didn’t want to sit in a classroom, I wanted to go out and play. It’s normal childhood behavior and parents aren’t being told about the horrific side affects that these drugs are having on their children. It’s a heartbreaking situation for me and there’s a bigger picture that needs to be looked into.
nocheLatina: As someone who has had three Alma Award nominations, how crucial is it for your work to be recognized within the Latino community?
Marisol Nichols: It’s important to me because there still isn’t a ton of Latinos in television. I still run into things like, ‘They don’t want to see a Latina for this role.’ I’m an actress, that’s all I am. I’m not really a cop, I play one, so why can’t I play another role? It doesn’t make sense to me at all. I love it when you’re like, ‘That person is Latin?’ because my name isn’t Maria or Consuela. They didn’t put a highlight on the fact that the character could be Latin. We want to be equal and not play the stereotypical Latino roles. We’re doctors, detectives, lawyers, housewives, and parents. It doesn’t matter what’s the color of our skin is or what ethnicity we are. It was really frustrating when I would go for roles and was told, ‘We’re not seeing the character as ethnic.’ Open your eyes. I don’t have an accent. I was born and raised in Chicago. I am Latina, but I’m an actress who wants to represent our community.
nocheLatina: Do you see more Latinos appearing on television shows in the future?
Marisol Nichols: Absolutely. It’s interesting because it seems like every television show has the token ethnic person. What I do want to see is more roles being written for all ethnicities. It has gotten better, though. You can turn on your TV and lots of girls can see Latinas that look like them. I can’t complain that much, but we still have more ways to go.
