When it comes to booking commercials, Crystal Nichols has a unique ace up her sleeve. The sporty actress got into refereeing in her 20s, a path that took her to Finland, Sweden and Germany. She nearly made it to the NBA, but she could never shake that acting bug she caught in college.
The Lansing, Michigan native still has that referee outfit, and her skill has gotten her booked on commercials for big brands, including Dr. Scholl’s, plus an Apple TV commercial that had her repping her home state with Detroit Lions gear. Nichols shared the story of booking those spots and how she broke into both worlds.
How did you decide to become an actor?
Well, I look at it as a hobby, because back in Michigan, where I’m from, I was always on TV commercials and I appeared in a show called The Martha Stewart Show back in the day. I came out here and went to Brooks College in Long Beach.
There was this play called Harper’s Bazaar. The person who was the star of the show got sick. They nominated me for the leading role because they said I was a good actress. I’m like, “What?” I had to learn [lines for] nine different [women’s roles,] including mine. I ended up getting the Best Actress award when I was in college.
[After] that, I just started pursuing it. Then I got into football [refereeing] and everything, so I kind of let it go for a minute. Prior to my mother being very, very sick, I auditioned for some plays up in Hollywood. The next thing you know, I was doing plays from 2017 up until the pandemic. I got the leading roles most of the time. It was so much fun. They closed down the theater because of the pandemic, but for a good four or five years, I was on stage performing and it was so much fun.

How did you discover Casting Networks?
After everything got shut down, I heard about Casting Networks through friends when I was on-set. I was doing that show called All American on the CW. I got cast to do that show as the white hat referee. They were saying, you should go on Casting Networks to get more jobs.
When I [make] audition tapes, I visually see what I should do to be different from anybody else. I also studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute for five years. I learned how to be a Method actress.
Being a Method actress, you just take your life’s journey and put it into the script. That’s what I do. I can play a lot of different roles just because of my life’s journey. I like Casting Networks because you guys ask for a lot of different things, so I have to play a lot of different roles to get the role.
You booked an Apple TV Super Bowl commercial on Casting Networks. What was the booking process like as well as the on-set experience?
I think this was the most exciting one of them all. I was in my house and everything was being done on Zoom. [The commercial featured the Detroit Lions, and] I got a second call back because I’m from Lansing, Michigan, where everybody’s a Detroit Lions fan or Michigan State fan. They asked me if I could sing. I said, “Yes, I can sing.” They said, “Sing me a song.” I started singing “Amazing Grace.” I started singing this song and they were laughing so hard that I lost the lyrics to the second verse. Then the guys in the back go, “Oh, she can sing man. She can sing.”
I got the job because I could sing, but mind you, my sister was the singer in the family. She had passed in my 10th grade year, but she comes and visits me spiritually. She told me five years ago, “Learn how to sing ‘Amazing Grace.’” So, I learned how to sing it. As soon as they [asked if] I know how to sing, if it wasn’t my voice, I think it was her voice that came out because it booked the show.
Once I got there, they noticed that what I wore to get the show was for the Detroit Tigers baseball team. It wasn’t a Lions shirt, so they had to ship a shirt and all this Lions stuff in. I think I was the second to the last person to go on-set the midnight before, and that was Friday the 13th.
Prior to that, in that same setting down the street around the corner, I [auditioned] for the Dr. Scholl’s commercial. That was pretty intense, [and] I got that from [Casting Networks] as well. When I walked in there, my girlfriend’s friend [was there]. I didn’t know [her], but her husband knew me from Michigan. He says, “You’re the referee, you’re the referee!’” It’s like I got it immediately because of me being an official—I have to wear Dr. Scholl’s shoes and inserts and keep myself running. That whole Friday the 13th was a blessing day. People might say it’s a spooky day, but it gave me all positive energy that day.

It seems like you’ve gotten a bunch of work through this referee outfit that you have. How did you become an official?
I was [acting] in my late twenties and everyone was saying, ‘Well, they’re not going to be looking for you anymore. You better find something else to do.” I have a strong athletic background. Sometimes I’d wake up thinking I have to go to cheerleading practice, basketball practice or run some hurdles or do something. My body was just like, “Come on, you’ve got to do something with yourself physically.”
I started refereeing basketball games and I got to the level where I was working international men’s basketball and was this close from being in the NBA. But that journey said, “Crystal, you’re too pretty. You’re too petite. You need to build a certain image, a strong presence about yourself.” I said, “Well, how do I do that?” They [said], “Referee football.”
I started refereeing football and that journey took me overseas to Finland, Sweden and Germany. My journey with officiating was just … I don’t know, it was like God just set this path for me and all I had to do is stay in shape and study the rules. It came to me pretty easy because I am athletic. I understand the game. It’s like right now I am playing a lot of golf. I even answered some [ads for] golf commercials that you guys had out.
What would you say helps someone succeed on Casting Networks?
What I’ve learned at Lee Strasberg [Theatre & Film] Institute is that they’ll give you a script, and that script is something that you have to create that they would want to use. All these scripts are coming in, so you have to make up your own roleplay to be different from anybody. That’s what I’ve been doing.
For Dr. Scholl’s, I showed myself running up and down the basketball court with Dr. Scholl’s on, so they could see that I really am who I am. [For] the commercial with the Detroit Lions, I let them know that I’m a fan. I said, “I actually got tickets to go in to see the Detroit Lions from an NFL football official. He gave me 10 tickets.” I said, “The Detroit Lions have the best stadium because of that Lions roar when they made a touchdown.”
You just have to be creative. You have to be different from anybody else and you have to have a good storyline about yourself.

Do you have any audition advice that you might be able to share as well?
The only thing I have on is lipstick and a little mascara, and the more natural you can look, the better. The more the background looks clean, the better. You just want to come off looking clean and fresh and just not all made up [with] a whole bunch of stuff on. If they like you, they’ll put more mascara on you or they’ll change your hair around. Make yourself very easy.
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