“Monsters”' Nicholas Alexander Chavez on His 'Paradigm Shift of Epic Proportions' After “General Hospital” Breakout Role (Exclusive)

The 25-year-old tells PEOPLE he was "trying to mentally prepare as best as I could" for 'Monsters' and 'Grotesquerie' to release within a week of each other

Nicholas Alexander Chavez's life has been a whirlwind for the last year.

The actor, who first made waves as Spencer Cassadine in General Hospital, stars in two of Ryan Murphy's newest series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and Grotesquerie, both of which premiere within a week of each other.

"It's a paradigm shift of epic proportions," he tells PEOPLE.

Related: Monsters' Nicholas Alexander Chavez Says 'I Sympathize' with Menéndez Brothers as He Talks Response to Series (Exclusive)

Chavez, 25, jokes that he's tackled "slightly different roles" as he transitioned from playing the son of a prince on the soap opera to portraying one-half of the infamous Menendez brothers — and then playing a priest who moonlights as a Peloton instructor in Grotesquerie.

"It's been an absolute dream come true, and it fills my heart in a way that I can't even describe that Ryan saw so much promise in me and decided to give me this shot," Chavez says at the New York City premiere of Grotesquerie on Sept. 23. "I owe him a debt of gratitude, and he's been an incredible friend to me."

Chavez knew that Monsters and Grotesquerie would be released back-to-back, and admits he was "trying to mentally prepare as best as I could in my head for this, but I don't think anything could really prepare you for the reality of this — which is that it's so much fun, and honestly, just a dream come true."

His exit from General Hospital came in between the two projects. In May, he confirmed in a statement on X (formerly known as Twitter) that there are "no current plans" for him to reprise his role as Spencer on the soap opera — which he joined in 2021 — as he expressed his gratitude for the "most loyal and kind fan base in the universe of entertainment."

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Monsters marks his first role since the soap, and it was a particularly heavy one as he portrayed Lyle Menendez alongside Cooper Koch's Erik.

"I really sympathize with the brothers, the fact that this was the most traumatic moment of their life, and then having that put on television for the world to see," he says of the Netflix series and the response to it. "I would imagine that would be incredibly heavy."

Monsters then led to Grotesquerie. "Ryan called me, and he does have a very confidence-inspiring way of speaking about his projects," Chavez recalls. "I mean, immediately when he started to tell me about Grotesquerie, it sounded like such an interesting world and it sounded like an opportunity to participate in something really gruesome and unsettling and horrific, which is a palette that I haven't really gotten...I've certainly gotten into [it], but it's a more imaginative space."

Chavez teases that his character, Father Charlie Mayhew, has an almost "Shakespearean quality" to him, which drew him to the role.

"You could almost feel your way through this character like playing a piece of music or doing a Shakespearean soliloquy. I mean, it just fell out through a series of really, really impulsive behaviors and actions."

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Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is now streaming on Netflix, and Grotesquerie premieres Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 10 p.m. ET on FX.

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