Nicholas Alexander Chavez Had 'Whole Body Shakes' on His First Day on Set of General Hospital (Exclusive)

To say Nicholas Alexander Chavez was nervous on his first day in Port Charles would be an understatement.

The actor who made waves as Lyle Menendez in the Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez in Grotesquenesshe started General Hospital 2021, and he tells PEOPLE that on the first day he “barely said the words”.

“I graduated from acting school, I did these plays, but I hadn’t really, really, been in front of a camera before,” he says. “And I remember the first day I was in front of the cameras General HospitalI was so nervous. My whole body was shaking.”

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Chavez, 25, played Spencer Cassadine on the soap for two years, a decision he now calls “one of the best things for me.”

“I mean, the soap opera world is such an interesting world to be a part of – such an interesting world to come and experience. And I get to work with such talented people,” he says.

Nicholas Chavez, Tabyana Ali in ‘General Hospital’.

ABC/Christine Bartolucci

But there was certainly a bit of a transition period, given that he transitioned from “selling auto and life insurance” in Florida during the pandemic to a full-time role.

“I was still getting auditions, and I got this one audition General Hospital. And I said, ‘Okay, I’m really going to try to get this,'” he recalls.

The selfie led to his first “professional callback”, which took him to Los Angeles.

“I get there and I’m staying in a hotel, I’m trying to get all my words together, and then the day comes. And I’m standing in a room with 20 of the hottest guys I’ve ever seen in my entire life and I’m like, ‘Jesus.’

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Tabyana Ali, Nicholas Chavez on ‘General Hospital’.

ABC/Christine Bartolucci

“I go back in the room and I just try to focus. I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to be myself. I’m just going to bring everything that I am and everything that I can to this, because at the end of the day, that’s all I can do. And if after this I have to pay back the car sales, at least I can say I did my best’, he remembers thinking.

“And then they called me the next day and they said, ‘Don’t come back to Florida.’ Basically [it was like]’You start on Monday.'”

Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Javier Bardem as Jose Menendez in ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’.

Miles Crist/Netflix

The General Hospital The cast was “really supportive,” Chavez says, especially since it was all so new to him. “It took me a second to get on my feet. But then, as my confidence grew, I felt more and more comfortable. And I’m really, really lucky that after a few years on that show, I got the chance to audition Monsters.”

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He says he “couldn’t be more grateful” to the show — and the producers — for letting him take over Monsters role and move away from Port Charles. (After taking a leave of absence in the summer of 2023, Chavez officially announced his exit from the soap in May.)

Looking back, he says General Hospital“It’s kind of an interesting, strange way – a strange way – but [the show] he gave me all the experience and connected me to a really interesting aspect of television and entertainment culture.”

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Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez can be streamed on Netflix and Grotesqueness airs Wednesdays at 10pm ET/PT on FX.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education