Talking Shop: Rachel Nichols

Before this summer Nichols was best known for her work in TV show Alias

The ultimate boys' toy is coming to the big screen in the shape of GI Joe - the US version of the doll the British know as Action Man.

Actress Rachel Nichols, a former model who was seen earlier this summer as a green-skinned alien in Star Trek, is a member of the GI Joe team out to defeat the evil Cobra organisation, headed by Sienna Miller.

The 29-year-old plays Scarlett, whose ninja skills and talent with a crossbow come in useful when dealing with deadly assassins.

We caught up with Nichols last month on a day that began with her and her co-stars being sped down the River Thames for a photo opportunity at HMS Belfast.

That was quite an entrance you made this morning...

Oh my gosh, they did not adequately prepare us for this morning! It was so much fun: I'm from New England, from a world of boats and oceans, so I had a real laugh. It was hysterical: there were these little dinghies, we're bopping through the water and all of us got drenched. It was a riot to start a day of press that way.

Her GI Joe co-stars include Channing Tatum and Dennis Quaid (both left)

GI Joe is called Action Man in the UK. We don't recall there being an Action Woman...

Scarlett is the one female GI Joe, the one girl in the group of boys, and I was very much the one girl in a group of boys when we made the film. She grew up with the boys, she's a tomboy, she's really smart and she beats a lot of them at most of their games.

Does that mean you have your own doll now?

Yes, we've been having a real good laugh about the action figures. They came and scanned us - we had to make these crazy faces. Sienna and I don't particularly look our most attractive, but it is good fun to have an action figure.

Was it fun also to knock seven bells out of each other?

Sienna and I had a riotous time doing our fight scene - we trained for six weeks so I'm very proud of it. There were a lot of minor injuries - I took a punch to the head, she slipped on a rubber bullet, a spark went off and went down her top - but nothing we couldn't laugh about afterwards.

Didn't you suffer a more serious injury during another scene?

Nichols and Miller trained for six weeks ahead of their big fight scene

We were doing a big fight sequence and I was doing a stunt where I had to launch myself over a console. Some squibs that were supposed to go off after I passed the console went off in my face; I landed with my hair on fire and had burned-off eyebrows and eyelashes on my right side. I was very lucky that it was all superficial. My hair grew back and I'm not blind!

Do you think people will want to see a film based on a toy?

I think Transformers did us a huge service. I went into it thinking what is this? It's based on a toy my brother played with, and I was blown away. I think preconceptions are okay. You hope that people with low expectations will be completely blown away and go out and tell their friends.

The state of our armed forces is generating a lot of debate at present. Isn't it strange to be releasing a film about soldiering and militarism in this current climate?

People shouldn't go in thinking it's a military film. It doesn't take itself seriously; it's a summer blockbuster and certainly not a movie about war. It's a good, fun, rollercoaster ride; we're not making a statement or anything like that.

When you were first offered the part, though, did you not have concerns that the film might be misinterpreted?

Of course the movie could be open to all sorts of readings, but I knew upon reading the script it was going to be much more on the side of fun. It could go any way I guess, but I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about it being negative.

Miller plays the Baroness, a villainous saboteur set on world domination

There are a lot of guns in the film. How did Miller cope?

Sienna had never held a weapon before and had certainly never fired one, so she was probably intimidated in the beginning; she talked about being from the UK and it not being a gun culture. I had grown up with guns though and wasn't at all intimidated, so hopefully my ease with them helped her be at ease as well.

The Eiffel Tower takes some punishment in this movie. What do you think audiences in France will make of the scene in which it's destroyed?

The Eiffel Tower is my favourite sequence - not because I have anything against the French, but to see something so iconic actually fall and have it done so well is really remarkable. Obviously, I hope the French will forgive us!

How were the tight costumes to work in?

I think Sienna had it a lot worse than I did. Although the battle gear for the Joes was extremely tight and not exactly forgiving, her leather outfit was the toughest to get into. She'd lay on the floor and pull her pants on - it was quite a spectacle! But then you go and watch the movie and everything looks so fantastic you forget you didn't like wearing it. You just want to don the suit again and make another film.

Is that on the cards?

I hope so; we've discussed sequels and we'd all be on board. If they want to make more we'll be a part of it.

Rachel Nichols was talking to BBC News entertainment reporter Neil Smith. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is out on 7 August.