Austin Nichols
About
Biography
Biography
Born April 24, 1980 in Ann Arbor, MI and raised in Austin, TX, Austin Nichols graduated from the University of Southern California in 2002 with an English degree focusing on creative writing. Nichols was also a competitive water skier, representing the U.S. Junior Water Ski Team in the Pan-American Championships in 1997. He was once ranked third in the World Junior Rankings list in the Tricks event and skied in the Junior U.S. Masters Championships twice. Even prior to finishing his English degree, Nichols began acting professionally on the side, appearing in the feature film "The Durango Kids" in 1999. On television that same year, he appeared in an episode of the fantasy series "Sliders" (SciFi 1995-2000) as well as an episode of the sitcom "Odd Man Out" (ABC 1999-2000). Following a series of guest roles, Nichols landed his first series regular role of heartthrob Charlie Darwell opposite actress Alison Lohman on short-lived primetime soap "Pasadena" (Fox 2001-02) and co-starred in the independent film "The Utopian Society" (2002). Nichols' mainstream feature film debut was in the apocalyptic action drama "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004), opposite newcomer Emmy Rossum. The successful disaster flick paved the way for a part opposite stars Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany in the romantic comedy "Wimbledon" (2004). Following this bit of high profile big screen success, Nichols landed the regular role of Jackson on the sci-fi adventure series "Surface" (ABC 2005). That same year, he appeared on the big screen as Roderick Usher in "The Fall of the House of Usher" (2005), based on the classic short horror story by Edgar Allan Poe, followed by his biggest film success thus far in the period sports movie "Glory Road" (2006). After starring in indie drama "Lenexa, 1 Mile" (2006), Nichols appeared on western drama "Deadwood" (HBO 2004-06) before costarring on series creator David Milch's next project, metaphysical drama "John from Cincinnati" (HBO 2007). He next joined the cast of long-running teen drama "One Tree Hill" (WB/CW 2003-2012) as ambitious film producer Julian Baker. During this period, Nichols also costarred in L.A. drama "The Informers" (2008), dysfunctional family drama "Beautiful Boy" (2012) and Miley Cyrus drama "LOL" (2012). Following the end of "One Tree Hill," Nichols had recurring roles on the Hollywood thriller "Ray Donovan" (Showtime 2013- ), zombie hit "The Walking Dead" (AMC 2010- ) and origin series "Bates Motel" (A&E 2013-17).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Life Events
1999
Made Feature debut in "The Durango Kids"
1999
Made television debut in an episode of the Sci-Fi Channel series, "Sliders"
2001
Made series regular debut as the heartthrob Charlie Darwell in short-lived primetime soap, "Pasadena"
2002
Appeared as Brenda Chenowith's lover in two episodes of "Six Feet Under" (HBO)
2003
Starred as a stereotypical basketball-playing 'frat boy' in the independent film "The Utopian Society"
2004
Appeared as Jake Hammond, an arrogant tennis pro in "Wimbledon," opposite Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany
2004
Played a rich kid and romantic rival to Jake Gyllenhaal in the environmental blockbuster, "The Day After Tomorrow"
2005
Cast in the basketball drama, "Glory Road," directed by James Gartner and starring Josh Lucas
2005
Landed the regular role of Jackson on the ABC sci-fi adventure series "Surface"
2006
Cast as the younger brother of wild west legend Wyatt Earp in the third season of HBO's popular series, "Deadwood"
2007
Cast as the lead in David Milch's short-lived HBO series, "John from Cincinnati"
2008
Was a series regular on teen drama "One Tree Hill"
2013
Had a recurring role on "Ray Donovan"
2015
Played Spencer Monroe on AMC's "The Walking Dead"
2017
Played Sam Loomis on "Bates Motel"
