Born April 24, 1980 in Ann Arbor, MI to David and Kay Nichols, the future actor was raised in Austin, TX until the age of 18, whereupon he moved to Los Angeles. He graduated in 2002 from the University of Southern California in 2002, with an English degree, focusing on creative writing. Austin 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. He first appeared in the feature film, "The Durango Kids," in 1999. On television that same year, he appeared in an episode of the Sci-Fi Channel series, "Sliders" (1995-2000) entitled, "The Great Work," as well as an episode of the sitcom "Odd Man Out" (ABC, 1999-2000). He proceeded to land a series of small parts, including a role in a 2001 episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS, 2000- ) called "Sounds of Silence;" a 2001 episode of "Family Law" (CBS, 1999-2002); and an 2002 episode of "Wolf Lake" (CBS, 2001-02) entitled, "If These Wolves Could Talk." He also tried his hand at comedy, appearing in a bit part on the short-lived NBC Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom, "Watching Ellie" (2002-03), entitled "Junk." The young workhorse also landed his first series regular role of heartthrob Charlie Darwell opposite actress Alison Lohman. Unfortunately, it was on Fox's short-lived primetime soap, "Pasadena" (2001-02).
In 2002, Nichols appeared twice on HBO's "Six Feet Under," before showing up on the kitschy syndicated action show, "She Spies," the following year. He also squeezed in the independent film, "The Utopian Society" that same year.
Nichols' mainstream feature film debut was in the apocalyptic action drama, "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004), opposite newcomer Emmy Rossum. The part of J.D. in the successful disaster flick paved the way for him to land a part opposite stars Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany in the romantic comedy, "Wimbledon," later that year. Already an athlete, with extensive experience in competitive water skiing, Nichols still beefed up for the rigorous tennis matches the film required.
Following this bit of high profile big screen success, Nichols proceeded to spend 2005-06 juggling roles in both mediums. He landed the regular role of Jackson on the ABC sci-fi adventure series "Surface" in 2005. That same year, he appeared on the big screen as Roderick Usher in "The Fall of the House of Usher," based on the classic short horror story by Edgar Allan Poe, as well as in the film, "Thanks to Gravity." A year later, he also appeared in an episode of "CSI: Miami" (CBS, 2002- ) entitled, "Fade Out," while making perhaps his biggest impression on moviegoers thus far in the period sports movie, "Glory Road" (2006). Nichols was again called on to utilize his athletic prowess as one of the only white basketball players on coach Josh Lucas' controversial team. The film was based on the true story of the Texas Western Basketball team who altered NCAA history in 1966 by becoming the first African-American line-up of players to win the championship. While the film was far from a box office smash, it received solid reviews and a modest box office take.
Nichols would finish out the rest of 2006 with a variety of projects in the hopper. Aside from getting his first tabloid exposure with photos published of he and friend Jake Gyllenhaal at sports events, the young actor was set to star in the feature film, "Lenexa, 1 Mile," about five friends from childhood spending their last summer together before going off to college. Par for the course with the medium-juggling Nichols, he was also slated for a small screen role as the younger brother of wild west legend Wyatt Earp in the third season of HBO's popular series, "Deadwood" (2004- ). Completing the trifecta, he was in production in an upcoming comedy-drama series from "thirtysomething" creator Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, entitled, "1/4life," about recent college graduates struggling in the real world, scheduled for the fall 2006-07 television schedule.