When Josh C. Waller’s Raze arrives on Digital HD and VOD this Friday (and in limited theatrical release on January 14), plenty of people will call the film a female version of Fight Club. But they’ll be missing so much subtext with that simple description. Sure, the action-packed thriller has plenty of female-centric, bare-knuckle fighting, but Raze is ultimately about female empowerment, strength, and the willingness to go beyond your body’s limits in the name of self-preservation. It’s a testament to star Zoë Bell’s career as a stuntwoman as well as proof-positive of her ascension to legitimate presence in front of the camera. Parade sat down with Raze Executive Producer (and one of Bell’s tough-as-nails co-stars) Rachel Nichols to discuss the film, her time on Criminal Minds, her absence from the second G.I. Joe film, and some of the strong women that she admires.

How long did it take to choreograph the fight between you and Zoë Bell?

Thankfully, Zoë is a total baller in the choreography department and I’ve had my fair share of fight scenes as well. We worked for a total of something like ten hours on various days before we shot just to get it down. Luckily, we’re both in relatively good shape and have the stamina to be able to do it over and over and over again.

Rachel Nichols in Raze (Courtesy of IFC Films)

Did you come home with a lot of scars and bruises?

Oh, yeah. I am super accident-prone. I bruise very, very easily. I have really fair skin, but the twisted and weird thing is that I love it. I love coming home with battle wounds. Even on the show that I work on now [Continuum] they’re like, “We’ll give you some arnica,” and I’m like, “I’m never going to put it on. I like the bruise. The bruise is cool. It makes me look tough!” So, yes, I bruise easily, but I actually think it’s pretty rad and I’ve been known to photograph them on occasion.

You’ve obviously worked with stuntwomen and stuntmen before, but how was it working with Zoë in an acting role rather than her as a stuntwoman?

She’s the only stuntperson that I’ve ever worked with as an actress as well and what few people know is that my first fight scene ever was when I was on Alias and I actually fought Zoë Bell because she was doubling Amy Acker at the time. I remember meeting her and thinking, “This chick is so cool.” Zoë just is. She’s cool and easy to be around. You want to be around her. So when we started the actual acting beats, I was really impressed. I had never really seen her acting. I know that Quentin [Tarantino] puts her in all of his movies, but never in a role where she actually had to go to a dark place and be emotional and sort of go outside of what I think is her comfort zone, and I think she did a great job.

Rachel Nichols & Zoë Bell in Raze (Courtesy of IFC Films)

You’re an Executive Producer on Raze as well. Was it important for you guys to make sure you got across the female empowerment aspects of the story in the film?

Yeah, it definitely was. It’s obviously going to be a polarizing subject matter and there are some people that are going to say, “Oh, it’s misogynistic and it’s very anti-women,” and, “Oh, gross. Women fighting.” Not into it. Okay, well then this movie isn’t for you and I get that and that’s totally fine. However, the way that we did it and the way that Josh [C. Waller] shot it, the tone that he wanted is the opposite of that. It’s actually empowering women. Give us a challenge and we’ll meet it. We’re stronger than you think we are. I loved that about it. That was what drew me to it and that’s what had always been promised. That it would never turn into something else. They met with some financiers that wanted to turn it into, “And then her top rips off and then they make out!” We were never going to go down that road. It didn’t matter how much money they offered us because the movie we wanted to make is the movie that we did make. I think everybody was really happy with the way that it ended.

You’ve had quite a few strong, female lead roles. Who are some of the women that you look up to?

I was a huge fan of Alias before I was on the show and, when I was on there, Jennifer Garner was every bit as nice and accommodating and friendly and generous as anyone I’ve ever met. Even more so than you would ever think she would be and want her to be. She really inspired me because I have days on Continuum where I think, “Sheesh. I can’t do this. I’m exhausted. I’ve been working every day of the week,” and then I think, “Yeah, and Jen Garner did it for five seasons shooting twice as many episodes as I do per season and she was pregnant the last season that I was on it and she was still the nicest, most generous person I’ve ever met.” So I really look up to her and always have. I had the opportunity to work with Kathryn Bigelow when we shot the original pilot for The Inside, and you want to talk about a really cool, awesome, powerful woman who does what she wants to do? Kathryn Bigelow to a T! She’s incredible. I think she’s the strongest woman I’ve ever met in this business. She’s just balls to the wall and, God love her, she’s amazing.

Rachel Nichols & Zoë Bell in Raze (Courtesy of IFC Films)

I thought you were great as well on Criminal Minds during a time when the show was in a bit of a transition. Do you feel like you got a bit of a raw deal there or that fans didn’t give you a chance because of what happened with Paget Brewster and A.J. Cook?

It was interesting because, at the beginning, fans didn’t give me a chance at all. They were very angry about the Paget and A.J. situation. Fans hated me. I was relatively new to Twitter and people were just very mean to me on there. I adored working on the show and Thomas Gibson and Shemar [Moore] and Joe [Mantegna] are all such sweethearts. I really loved the show and Thomas just said to me, “Be patient. Be patient. You have to understand that the audience is upset.” So I took his advice and, for everybody on Twitter that was mean to me or rude to me, I would say, “Look: I understand that you’re unhappy that I joined the show, and two of the cast members have been sort of replaced, but don’t hate Rachel Nichols. You can hate CBS. You can hate Ashley Seaver. You can be really mad about Criminal Minds, but don’t hate me because I’m just an actress that got a job. It’s not my fault.” And I kind of went about it that way and the tide started to turn. Suddenly, people went, “Okay, okay. Yeah, we don’t really like Ashley Seaver, but you seem kind of okay.” [Laughs] And then it turned into, “You know, Ashley Seaver’s not so bad. We really like you.” It just kind of worked. It was a long process. Then, the sad thing of course, when I didn’t go back to the show and I was heartbroken—I found out via Twitter when I was on vacation in Peru—people were outraged. “How could you not come back?” they said. “How could they not bring you back? That’s crazy!” So I was very disappointed. It was a bit of a heartbreak and Joe Mantegna sent me an email saying, “This happened for a reason. You’re talented. You’re going to find something that’s right for you. We all miss you terribly, but this happened for a reason.” And when I booked Continuum, he followed up and said, “See? I told ya!” He’s great.

I’d love to see you back at some point.

I would too! I’d love to just show up. People keep asking for it on Twitter and appealing to CBS. It seems to have fallen on deaf ears. I don’t know how much longer the show is going to go, but I would love to come in for the finale or something. I’m sure they have plenty of people that would love to come in, but I would love to go back and I’ve made that quite clear, so it’s certainly not a “no” coming from my end.

Speaking of coming back, I was super bummed to see for Scarlett not return for G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

[Laughs] Yeah! You and me both! [Laughs]

Raze Theatrical Poster (Courtesy of IFC Films)

Any chance you might be back for the third installment?

You know, that was a real heartbreak for me and I’ve always been really honest about it. They went through a regime change at Paramount between the first movie and the second movie, and you can see that with the cast and the fact that not a lot are back, but I was really heartbroken. I had a blast on that movie. I know Marlon Wayans did as well. We had so much fun. Sienna [Miller] and Channing [Tatum] too. We all became really good friends. Yeah, I was really bummed. I’m hoping (because the fans were very upset that Marlon and I weren’t back, which I greatly appreciated) that in the third installment I’ll get the invite to return. Do I have any idea if that’s feasible or plausible? No, I don’t. But I can keep my fingers crossed.

Raze arrives on Digital HD and VOD on January 10 and in limited theatrical release on January 14. Continuum will return for its third season on the Syfy channel in March.