Austin Nichols - Personal Life

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 Ashby, Sam Fuller, and John Ford. In addition to his interest in film, Nichols enjoys waterskiing (in which he competed at the national level as a child), 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." His sister, Ashley, is married to director Rowdy Stovall, making him Nichols' brother-in-law.

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. As of February 2012 they have broken up.