Austin Nichols
Encyclopedia
Austin Nichols is an American
film, television actor and director who is perhaps best known for his role as Julian Baker in The CW
drama series One Tree Hill
. He is also known for his roles in films such as The Day After Tomorrow
and Wimbledon
. He starred in the HBO series John from Cincinnati
.
, Michigan
, and moved to Austin
, Texas
before he was a year old. He was named after the Austin, Nichols
distilling company, producers of Wild Turkey
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. His father, David Nichols, is a radiologist
, and his mother, Kay Nichols, is a professional trick water skier
. Kay has been a national champion ten times and an international champion once. He has one older sister, Ashley.
Nichols was raised on Lake Austin
and attended Casis Elementary School. Nichols began competitive water skiing from the age of two. He represented the US Junior Water Ski Team in the Pan-American Championships in 1997, and was also on the Junior US Olympic Water Skiing team. At age thirteen, he was ranked third in the world. Nichols had intended to become a professional water skier until he injured his shoulder in Florida, and was forced to give up the sport. While at McCallum High School
in central Austin, he played basketball but was "absolutely awful". Nichols' interest in acting was sparked when he was fifteen years old and he began to take acting lessons. He moved to Los Angeles
after high school, where he currently lives.
and was signed by a manager. Nichols initially wished to attend the University of Texas
, but moved to LA after his signing and enrolled instead at the University of Southern California
, graduating in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in English. Although Nichols had guest appearances in Sliders
, Odd Man Out
, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
, Family Law
, Watching Ellie
, and Wolf Lake
before his graduation, his big break came in 2002 when he appeared as Brenda Chenowith
's lover in two episodes of Six Feet Under. He had previously appeared in two films, Durango Kids in 1999 and Holiday in the Sun
in 2001, both of which were panned by critics.
In his first critically successful film role, Nichols starred as a stereotypical, basketball-playing "frat boy"
in The Utopian Society
, a 2003 independent film directed by John P. Aguirre, which won several awards and some critical acclaim. One critic wrote that Nichols "transforms himself from a cardboard jock and frat boy caricature to a likeable vulnerable human being with surprising sensibilities." Aguirre commended Nichols as a "stellar talent" able to play his character "with total abandon to self ego". Following another guest spot in She Spies
, Nichols then simultaneously co-starred in two box office successes, The Day After Tomorrow
and Wimbledon
.
's main character in the environmental blockbuster, The Day After Tomorrow
. The science and script were generally panned by critics, and cast performances criticized. Also in 2004, he appeared in Wimbledon
, opposite Kirsten Dunst
and Paul Bettany
. The film was well received by critics, though it only did reasonably well at the US box office. Nichols' acting as Jake Hammond, an arrogant tennis pro, was described as "effectively unlikeable". For the role, Nichols had to learn tennis from scratch; he was trained to look professional by Pat Cash
, who was taken aback by Nichols' skill. Speaking of the actor's forehand shot, the coach observed: "It’s absolutely as good as anybody’s on the circuit. I swear to God. He hits it like a bullet. He’s our star pupil." By the end of their training, Nichols and Bettany were able to have rallies and play points, although some of their more intricate exchanges were computer generated.
After this success, Nichols co-starred in a pilot for 1/4 life, a TV series about 20 somethings living in New York which was not developed by a television network. He then had a minor role in an obscure and panned 2005 film, Thanks to Gravity. Nichols followed this with short guest spots on episodes of Pasadena
and Surface
, before being cast in a successful 2006 film, Glory Road
.
Glory Road, directed by James Gartner and starring Josh Lucas
, is a film based on the true story of the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
, in which Coach Don Haskins
led a team with an all-black starting lineup, a first in NCAA history. Nichols played one of the few white players on the team; he trained heavily for the role and had to master basketball as it was played in the 1960s, saying "I'd never been so sore in my life". The film was not a box office hit; it made $46,000,000 and received positive fan reviews, though fans were more enthusiastic than the critics.
After Glory Road, Nichols appeared in an episode of CSI: Miami
and starred in Lenexa, 1 mile, a film about the disturbing secrets of five childhood friends, set during their last summer together before college. As of 2007, the creators have not announced plans to release the film.
by Edgar Allan Poe
. He plays the disturbed Roderick Usher, who has been described by Nichols as a "twisted, terminally ill, fucked-up guy". The House of Usher was released in September 2007. Nichols also portrayed Neal Cassady
, with Will Estes
as Jack Kerouac
, in the short film Luz Del Mundo.
In April 2006, Nichols guest starred in Deadwood
, an HBO Western series. Shortly afterward, Nichols signed a rare holding deal with the HBO Network. In August of that year, Nichols was cast as the lead in a new series, John From Cincinnati
, a surfing drama created by David Milch
, who also produced Deadwood. The series began airing in June 2007, but was cancelled after one season due to poor ratings and mixed critical reviews. Nichols played John Monad, a stranger who suddenly appears in a quiet surfing town; for the role, he took up surfing and practiced every day for three months.
In 2007, Nichols appeared as teacher for a few episodes of Friday Night Lights
, before being cast in a recurring role on the The CW's One Tree Hill
. He was upgraded to series regular for the seventh season
.
, Sam Fuller, and John Ford
. In addition to his interest in film, Nichols enjoys golf, tennis, and horseback riding. Since beginning filming John from Cincinnati, he has also taken up surfing, which he finds "very therapeutic and healing".
Nichols dated artist Claire Oswalt for seven years before breaking off their engagement in 2004. He mentioned in an interview he was living out of his car and sleeping on friends' couches for some time afterwards. Nichols has been friends with fellow actor Jake Gyllenhaal
since the two met on the set of The Day After Tomorrow in 2004. Nichols said in one interview, "I've learned a ton from Jake. He's a really sharp guy. He told me everything about acting, the business, girls, life."
Shortly after John from Cincinnati was cancelled, Nichols was pulled over at 3 A.M. on August 24, 2007 in Jackson, Michigan after driving the wrong way down a one-way street in his silver Mercury Mountaineer
. His blood alcohol level was a reported .10 and he was arrested for DUI.
On May 25, 2010, it was revealed that Nichols has been dating fellow One Tree Hill co-star Sophia Bush
off and on for the past four years. It was also revealed that Austin took a job on One Tree Hill to be with Sophia.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film, television actor and director who is perhaps best known for his role as Julian Baker in The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
drama series One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...
. He is also known for his roles in films such as The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow is a 2004 American science-fiction disaster film that depicts the catastrophic effects of global warming in a series of extreme weather events that usher in global cooling which leads to a new ice age. The film did well at the box office, grossing $542,771,772 internationally...
and Wimbledon
Wimbledon (film)
Wimbledon is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine. The film centers on a washed-up tennis pro named Peter Colt and an up-and-coming tennis star named Lizzie Bradbury during the Wimbledon Championships.The film was dedicated to Mark McCormack, who died on 16 May 2003 after...
. He starred in the HBO series John from Cincinnati
John from Cincinnati
John from Cincinnati is an American television drama, set against the surfing community of Imperial Beach, California, that aired on HBO from June 10, 2007 to August 12, 2007. It is the result of a collaborative effort between writer/producer David Milch and author Kem Nunn, whose novels have been...
.
Early life
Austin Nichols was born on April 24, 1980 in Ann ArborAnn Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, and moved to Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
before he was a year old. He was named after the Austin, Nichols
Austin, Nichols
Austin, Nichols & Company, Inc. USA, is a distilling company producing several brands of beverages, including the Wild Turkey whiskeys. It is a division of Campari Group....
distilling company, producers of Wild Turkey
Wild Turkey (bourbon)
Wild Turkey is a brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey distilled and bottled by the Austin, Nichols division of Campari Group. Its nicknames include "The Dirty Bird", "Gobble Gobble", "Bombed Tom", "Thunder Chicken", "Boat Gas", "Whiskey Tango", "The Screamin' Eagle", and "The Kickin’...
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. His father, David Nichols, is a radiologist
Radiology
Radiology is a medical specialty that employs the use of imaging to both diagnose and treat disease visualized within the human body. Radiologists use an array of imaging technologies to diagnose or treat diseases...
, and his mother, Kay Nichols, is a professional trick water skier
Water skiing
thumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...
. Kay has been a national champion ten times and an international champion once. He has one older sister, Ashley.
Nichols was raised on Lake Austin
Lake Austin
Lake Austin is a reservoir on the Colorado River in Austin, Texas in the United States. The reservoir was formed in 1939 by the construction of Tom Miller Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority....
and attended Casis Elementary School. Nichols began competitive water skiing from the age of two. He represented the US Junior Water Ski Team in the Pan-American Championships in 1997, and was also on the Junior US Olympic Water Skiing team. At age thirteen, he was ranked third in the world. Nichols had intended to become a professional water skier until he injured his shoulder in Florida, and was forced to give up the sport. While at McCallum High School
McCallum High School
A. N. McCallum High School is a public high school in Austin, Texas, United States.McCallum, the second oldest high school in the Austin Independent School District, opened in 1953 to relieve growth in north and northwest Austin. Named after AISD's first high school superintendent, A.N...
in central Austin, he played basketball but was "absolutely awful". Nichols' interest in acting was sparked when he was fifteen years old and he began to take acting lessons. He moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
after high school, where he currently lives.
Beginnings
Nichols wanted to be an actor for much of his early life. His acting career began when he gatecrashed a party at the Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and was signed by a manager. Nichols initially wished to attend the University of Texas
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, but moved to LA after his signing and enrolled instead at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, graduating in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in English. Although Nichols had guest appearances in Sliders
Sliders
Sliders is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast for five seasons, beginning in 1995 and ending in 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. The show was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé...
, Odd Man Out
Odd Man Out
Odd Man Out is a 1947 Anglo-Irish film noir directed by Carol Reed, starring James Mason, and is based on a novel of the same name by F. L. Green.-Plot:The film's opening intertitle reads:...
, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
, Family Law
Family law
Family law is an area of the law that deals with family-related issues and domestic relations including:*the nature of marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships;...
, Watching Ellie
Watching Ellie
Watching Ellie is an American sitcom that starred Julia Louis-Dreyfus and was created by her husband, Brad Hall. It aired on NBC from February 2002 to May 2003, though only sixteen episodes were broadcast before it was canceled due to low ratings....
, and Wolf Lake
Wolf Lake
Wolf Lake is an American television series that originally aired on CBS. Wolf Lake follows a pack of werewolves living in a Seattle suburb. The first 5 episodes aired on CBS, but due to low ratings CBS cancelled it. A total of nine aired episodes and a non-aired pilot were made before the show...
before his graduation, his big break came in 2002 when he appeared as Brenda Chenowith
Brenda Chenowith
Brenda Chenowith is a fictional character on the HBO television series Six Feet Under played by Rachel Griffiths. She was first introduced in the pilot, and remained until the series finale.-Prior to the Pilot:...
's lover in two episodes of Six Feet Under. He had previously appeared in two films, Durango Kids in 1999 and Holiday in the Sun
Holiday in the Sun
Holiday in the Sun is an American movie released in 2001 starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It was directed by Steve Purcell and is notable for being the film debut of actress Megan Fox...
in 2001, both of which were panned by critics.
In his first critically successful film role, Nichols starred as a stereotypical, basketball-playing "frat boy"
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
in The Utopian Society
The Utopian Society
- Plot :The Utopian Society is about a group of college students who are put together by their professor to complete a final project: create a utopian society. Like most college students, they’ve waited until the night before it is due to start working on it...
, a 2003 independent film directed by John P. Aguirre, which won several awards and some critical acclaim. One critic wrote that Nichols "transforms himself from a cardboard jock and frat boy caricature to a likeable vulnerable human being with surprising sensibilities." Aguirre commended Nichols as a "stellar talent" able to play his character "with total abandon to self ego". Following another guest spot in She Spies
She Spies
She Spies is an action-adventure television show that ran from September 9, 2002 until May 17, 2004, in two seasons. The show was sold into syndication but the first four episodes premiered on the NBC network, whose syndication arm was one of the producers. Disappointing ratings during the show's...
, Nichols then simultaneously co-starred in two box office successes, The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow is a 2004 American science-fiction disaster film that depicts the catastrophic effects of global warming in a series of extreme weather events that usher in global cooling which leads to a new ice age. The film did well at the box office, grossing $542,771,772 internationally...
and Wimbledon
Wimbledon (film)
Wimbledon is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine. The film centers on a washed-up tennis pro named Peter Colt and an up-and-coming tennis star named Lizzie Bradbury during the Wimbledon Championships.The film was dedicated to Mark McCormack, who died on 16 May 2003 after...
.
Box office and critical success
In 2004, Nichols was cast as J.D., an intelligent rich kid and romantic rival to Jake GyllenhaalJake Gyllenhaal
Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten...
's main character in the environmental blockbuster, The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow is a 2004 American science-fiction disaster film that depicts the catastrophic effects of global warming in a series of extreme weather events that usher in global cooling which leads to a new ice age. The film did well at the box office, grossing $542,771,772 internationally...
. The science and script were generally panned by critics, and cast performances criticized. Also in 2004, he appeared in Wimbledon
Wimbledon (film)
Wimbledon is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine. The film centers on a washed-up tennis pro named Peter Colt and an up-and-coming tennis star named Lizzie Bradbury during the Wimbledon Championships.The film was dedicated to Mark McCormack, who died on 16 May 2003 after...
, opposite Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
and Paul Bettany
Paul Bettany
Paul Bettany is an English actor. He has appeared in a wide variety of films, including A Knight's Tale, A Beautiful Mind, and The Da Vinci Code...
. The film was well received by critics, though it only did reasonably well at the US box office. Nichols' acting as Jake Hammond, an arrogant tennis pro, was described as "effectively unlikeable". For the role, Nichols had to learn tennis from scratch; he was trained to look professional by Pat Cash
Pat Cash
Patrick Hart "Pat" Cash is a retired Australian professional tennis player who won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1987.-Early career:...
, who was taken aback by Nichols' skill. Speaking of the actor's forehand shot, the coach observed: "It’s absolutely as good as anybody’s on the circuit. I swear to God. He hits it like a bullet. He’s our star pupil." By the end of their training, Nichols and Bettany were able to have rallies and play points, although some of their more intricate exchanges were computer generated.
After this success, Nichols co-starred in a pilot for 1/4 life, a TV series about 20 somethings living in New York which was not developed by a television network. He then had a minor role in an obscure and panned 2005 film, Thanks to Gravity. Nichols followed this with short guest spots on episodes of Pasadena
Pasadena (TV series)
Pasadena is an American primetime soap opera originally broadcast in the U.S. from September to November 2001 on Fox.-Summary:The series starred Alison Lohman as Lily McAllister, an initially naïve young woman who witnesses a stranger's suicide and begins to investigate the secrets being hidden by...
and Surface
Surface (TV series)
Surface is a science fiction television series that premiered on NBC on 19 September 2005. The program aired fifteen episodes before going on hiatus on February 6, 2006 due to NBC's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics...
, before being cast in a successful 2006 film, Glory Road
Glory Road (film)
Glory Road is an American sports film directed by James Gartner, based on a true story dealing with the events leading to the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, in which the late Don Haskins – played by Josh Lucas – head coach of the Texas Western College led a team...
.
Glory Road, directed by James Gartner and starring Josh Lucas
Josh Lucas
Josh Lucas is an American actor. He has appeared in many films, including Glory Road, A Beautiful Mind, and Poseidon.-Early life:...
, is a film based on the true story of the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 7, 1966, and ended with the championship game on March 19 in College Park, Maryland...
, in which Coach Don Haskins
Don Haskins
Donald Lee Haskins, nicknamed "The Bear" , was an American collegiate basketball coach and player. He played for three years under legendary coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M...
led a team with an all-black starting lineup, a first in NCAA history. Nichols played one of the few white players on the team; he trained heavily for the role and had to master basketball as it was played in the 1960s, saying "I'd never been so sore in my life". The film was not a box office hit; it made $46,000,000 and received positive fan reviews, though fans were more enthusiastic than the critics.
After Glory Road, Nichols appeared in an episode of CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
and starred in Lenexa, 1 mile, a film about the disturbing secrets of five childhood friends, set during their last summer together before college. As of 2007, the creators have not announced plans to release the film.
The House of Usher and beyond
Nichols' next film was a 2006 thriller, The House of Usher, directed by Hayley Cloake and based on the storyThe Fall of the House of Usher
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in September 1839 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. It was slightly revised in 1840 for the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque...
by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
. He plays the disturbed Roderick Usher, who has been described by Nichols as a "twisted, terminally ill, fucked-up guy". The House of Usher was released in September 2007. Nichols also portrayed Neal Cassady
Neal Cassady
Neal Leon Cassady was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 1960s. He served as the model for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road....
, with Will Estes
Will Estes
Will Estes is an American actor best known for his role as JJ Pryor, on the NBC drama American Dreams. In 2010, he joined the cast of Tom Selleck's new CBS police drama Blue Bloods...
as Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
, in the short film Luz Del Mundo.
In April 2006, Nichols guest starred in Deadwood
Deadwood (TV series)
Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before...
, an HBO Western series. Shortly afterward, Nichols signed a rare holding deal with the HBO Network. In August of that year, Nichols was cast as the lead in a new series, John From Cincinnati
John from Cincinnati
John from Cincinnati is an American television drama, set against the surfing community of Imperial Beach, California, that aired on HBO from June 10, 2007 to August 12, 2007. It is the result of a collaborative effort between writer/producer David Milch and author Kem Nunn, whose novels have been...
, a surfing drama created by David Milch
David Milch
David S. Milch is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including NYPD Blue and Deadwood.-Biography:...
, who also produced Deadwood. The series began airing in June 2007, but was cancelled after one season due to poor ratings and mixed critical reviews. Nichols played John Monad, a stranger who suddenly appears in a quiet surfing town; for the role, he took up surfing and practiced every day for three months.
In 2007, Nichols appeared as teacher for a few episodes of Friday Night Lights
Friday Night Lights (TV series)
Friday Night Lights is an American sports drama television series adapted by Peter Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevins from a book and film of the same name. The series details events surrounding a high school football team based in fictional Dillon, Texas, with particular focus given to team...
, before being cast in a recurring role on the The CW's One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...
. He was upgraded to series regular for the seventh season
One Tree Hill (season 7)
The CW officially renewed One Tree Hill for a seventh season on February 25, 2009. It premiered on September 14, 2009. Season seven is the first season not to include its original cast members, Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton...
.
Personal life
Alongside his acting career, Nichols maintains a strong interest in cinema. He keeps a log of every film he sees: "I take it to the movies and write down who does the music, edits, directs, and how long the film is." Claire Oswalt, an ex-girlfriend, said in a 2003 interview that Nichols watches an average of 20 movies a week. Nichols himself has stated: "If I'm not working, I spend almost half my day at theaters or watching DVDs at my house." He especially admires Hal AshbyHal Ashby
Hal Ashby was an American film director and film editor.-Birth and early years:Born William Hal Ashby in Ogden, Utah, Ashby grew up in a Mormon household and had a tumultuous childhood as part of a dysfunctional family which included the divorce of his parents, his father's suicide and his...
, Sam Fuller, and John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
. In addition to his interest in film, Nichols enjoys golf, tennis, and horseback riding. Since beginning filming John from Cincinnati, he has also taken up surfing, which he finds "very therapeutic and healing".
Nichols dated artist Claire Oswalt for seven years before breaking off their engagement in 2004. He mentioned in an interview he was living out of his car and sleeping on friends' couches for some time afterwards. Nichols has been friends with fellow actor Jake Gyllenhaal
Jake Gyllenhaal
Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten...
since the two met on the set of The Day After Tomorrow in 2004. Nichols said in one interview, "I've learned a ton from Jake. He's a really sharp guy. He told me everything about acting, the business, girls, life."
Shortly after John from Cincinnati was cancelled, Nichols was pulled over at 3 A.M. on August 24, 2007 in Jackson, Michigan after driving the wrong way down a one-way street in his silver Mercury Mountaineer
Mercury Mountaineer
Although the redesigned Explorer had already been out for two years, Mercury introduced an Explorer twin called the Mountaineer. The Mountaineer was only slightly different from the Explorer, although it did offer a few extra luxury features that the Explorer lacked, such as a standard 302 cu in ...
. His blood alcohol level was a reported .10 and he was arrested for DUI.
On May 25, 2010, it was revealed that Nichols has been dating fellow One Tree Hill co-star Sophia Bush
Sophia Bush
Sophia Anna Bush is an American actress, director and spokesperson. She currently stars in the CW television series One Tree Hill where she portrays Brooke Davis. Bush is additionally known for her film portrayals in the 2007 remake The Hitcher, John Tucker Must Die and The Narrows.-Early...
off and on for the past four years. It was also revealed that Austin took a job on One Tree Hill to be with Sophia.