Monsters' Nicholas Alexander Chavez Is 'Bowled Over' by Viral Fame: 'I Could Have Never Predicted That' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Nicholas Alexander Chavez for Netflix.Photo:Courtesy Of Netflix

Courtesy Of Netflix

Nicholas Alexander Chavezis coming off a crazy month, but really, he’s had a crazy year.

The actor stars in two ofRyan Murphy’s latest projects — first as Lyle Menendez inMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and then as the latest “hot priest” iteration, Father Charlie Mayhew inGrotesquerie—and between getting cast, filming and releasing both shows, it’s only been a year and a half.

“Honestly, to be direct with you, it’s very cool, and more than anything, it’s cool to get those signals from people that they’re responding to the work,” he says. “But it is strange to see the response.”

The response he’s referring to is his status as the newestInternet Boyfriend. One particular edit of Chavez as Lyle Menendez inMonstersboasts over 52 million views on TikTok. Known as “theNicholas Chavez edit,” the video has circulated well enough that it’s reached the actor himself.

Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez, Jeff Perry as Peter Hoffman, Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez in ‘Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story’.Miles Crist/Netflix

Miles Crist/Netflix

Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez in ‘Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story’.Miles Crist/Netflix

Chavez broke out onto the scene asSpencer Cassadine inGeneral Hospitalin 2021, after he says he “got interested in acting very slowly” following a slightly impromptu school performance ofTo Kill a Mockingbird.

“The faculty responded in a really positive way, told me that I should just do that as my job. And I was like, ‘Wow, that’s really cool.’ Because not many kids in Denver get told that they should be an actor for a living,” he recalls. “Then I started to go down that rabbit hole [and] I realized it was really, really hard. But I also realized at that point that it was my purpose in life, and that I wasn’t really going to be able to do anything else.”

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After a stint in Florida during the pandemic “selling cars and life insurance,” the soap opera audition came along, and one thing led to another. FromGeneral HospitalcameMonsters,andthencameGrotesquerie, but the reality of it all didn’t really hit Chavez until the last few weeks — if it’s even hit it all.

“It’s a surreal experience. You know what I mean? I think multiple times [Cooper Koch] and I would just look around,” he says of hisMonsterscostar and onscreen brother. “We would just say, ‘Is this real life right now? It’s actually happening?’ Because it’s a crazy thing to process.”

Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez, Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez in ‘Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story’.Miles Crist/Netflix

“Monsterswas many things, but I think it’s fair to say that it was, at the very least, a commercial success. And it got a lot of people’s attention. And when you’re in a project that does that, it does afford you the opportunity to have a lot of conversations with people that you just don’t necessarily get to have [otherwise],” he surmises of how life has already begun looking different career-wise over the course of the last month.

He’s visibly exhilarated as he shares that he’s “starting to get a small taste” of “the best artists in the world…inviting you into a room to have conversations with them, to talk about what you want to create.” Chavez admits, “It’s the best feeling in the world.”

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Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Storyis now streaming on Netflix, and new episodes ofGrotesqueriepremiere Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FX and stream the next day on Hulu.

source: people.com