Formerly ‘shy’ star of ‘Conan the Barbarian’ Rachel Nichols does Maxim

Sunday, July 17th, 2011 - 3:27 pm - Fun Entertainment Life

“Conan the Barbarian” star Rachel Nichols may have once described herself as a “shy girl from Maine,” but that was a loooong time ago.

“I mean, (I) used to be, definitely,” Nichols says of her bashful past in the August issue of Maxim magazine. “I wasn’t lying. I’m still polite and a good friend, but once you really stop caring about wanting everyone to like you all the time, you can’t be shy anymore.”

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Nichols won the hearts of nerds everywhere playing the Green Girl in J. J. Abrams’ 2009 version of ‘Star Trek’ and cemented her sci-fi stardom playing Shana ‘Scarlett’ O’Hara in ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra.’

“I wasn’t always as ass-kicking and gym-going,” the blonde stunner admits. “Because I was in ‘Alias’ and ‘G.I. Joe,’ I started training. ‘Alias’ was very action-packed. ‘G.I. Joe’ and ‘Conan’ were very action-packed. It’s been established that I can do action, which is great, but now I may just want to make out with a really hot guy.”

The hot guy in question doesn’t need to be able to reach things on the top kitchen shelf to win Nichols’ heart—but he’d better look good.

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“My type is really young, short, athletic, and smart,” says Nichols. “I know, you want to be with someone who’s going to be your friend—yeah, yeah, yeah. I want the Adonis line, the two down the hips to the waist. And a guy has to be able to accept criticism about his clothing. I can be very particular about what I like and don’t like.”

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While Nichols is quite particular about her man’s looks, potential suitors better think twice before criticizing hers—because she, on the other hand, is very sensitive.

“My first modeling job in Paris, the photographer said, ‘Tue es belle,’ which means, ‘you are pretty,’ and I thought he said, ‘Tu es poubelle,’ which means, ‘you are the trash can.’ I burst into tears. He was not happy about that.”

Despite Nichols’ current ass-kicking, Maxim-model persona, she longs to return to her nerdy roots.

“I’d love to do a movie where I actually get to be kind of quirky and odd and dorky and all that stuff,” she explains. “My parents would like to see some movies where I’m not in peril. They’d appreciate it.”

The August issue of Maxim is on sale now.

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