The Surprising Link Spiral's Marisol Nichols Has With Law Enforcement In Real Life - Exclusive
Contains spoilers for "Spiral: From the Book of Saw"
In "Spiral: From the Book of Saw," a copycat killer has taken up Jigsaw's old hobby — creating elaborate instruments of death. They aren't a guaranteed death sentence; victims can escape at a high price, sacrificing a limb, a few pints of blood, or perhaps their tongues. For police captain Angie Garza (Marisol Nichols), the price was far more brutal. She was bound to a table with a pipe that spewed boiling wax aimed at her shrouded face, her neck was connected to a blade — in order to shut off the wax, all she had to do was press down in it and sever her spine in the process, giving her the choice to die a slow, agonizing death or live crippled and disfigured. Arguably, this is one of the most messed up choices presented to victims in the entire series and Garza's death scene will surely go down as one of the most torturous moments in the "Saw" franchise. While it wasn't a pleasant time for her character, shooting the scene was a total blast for Nichols, whom you may also recognize as Hermione Lodge from "Riverdale."
"It was so cool, so fun. At one point I scream 'f*** you' as loud as I could because I wanted her pissed," she told Looper during an exclusive interview. "I actually screamed a lot of expletives and I didn't know what they were going to keep in, but I'm glad they kept it in because I wanted her pissed off and mad that she was caught by this guy, so mad, rather than victim-y. I just didn't think she was that kind of a character."
On the subject of traps, Nichols has another admirable vocation that involves setting up snares of her own.
Marisol Nichols helps crack down on child predators in real life
When she isn't busy portraying law enforcement characters, Marisol Nichols aids law enforcement in real life. During an April 2020 interview with Marie Claire, the actress revealed that she helps with sting operations that crack down on child predators and sex traffickers. Now, it seems her real-world heroics will be the subject of a new series. "I'm executive producing with Sony and we're doing it for TV," she said. "I'm not writing it myself. I have a showrunner and writer who's amazing. I've been working with him over the last year, giving him all behind-the-scenes footage and pictures and downloading everything I've done that hasn't gone public yet. But yeah, I'm hoping to God we can roll camera by the end of the year on this ... I'm really excited."
Nichols plays a crucial role in these sting operations when she goes undercover and uses herself as bait. The show will focus on the duality of being an actress by day, child predator vigilante at night. "It's based on my life. This is kind of what I do as my second job, which is somewhat unbelievable for people, but it is what I do," she said. "And it works really well. And I can get into places where other people might have a harder time — [that] kind of thing. And obviously I wear disguises and I have a different voice and I have a different mock-up and I have extremely well-trained partners who've trained me with an inch of my life and that's sort of what the story is based on."
"Spiral: From the Book of Saw" is currently in theaters