Lyle Menendez Actor Nicholas Chavez Says ‘Intensive Preparation’ Went Into ‘Monsters’ Role: I Was ‘Thrown Into the Depths’ of Ryan Murphy’s Vision

Nicholas Alexander Chavez is having a breakthrough moment with major roles across two of Ryan Murphy’s latest projects: the Netflix miniseries “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and FX’s upcoming Catholic horror fable “Grotesquerie.” In a Monday press conference promoting the latter series, Chavez dug into how the two productions necessitated different approaches, considering one is based on real events and the other is a fictional story.

“Ryan is a world builder. It was interesting, because I got to work with him on two very, very different worlds. The Menendez project had a context already set for it, where we’re telling the story that’s based on true events that happened in 1989 and the early ’90s,” Chavez said. “Whereas, this project was an entirely new world, where the only limitations were our creativity and imagination. It was interesting to just be thrown into the depths of what Ryan is capable of coming up with. It was an honor and a privilege to experience both.”

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In “Grotesquerie,” Chavez plays Father Charlie Mayhew, an enlightened priest who faces new revelations after meeting with Detective Lois Tryon, played by series lead Niecy Nash-Betts. Meanwhile, Chavez leads “Monsters” as Lyle Menendez, the older sibling to Erik (Cooper Koch). The pair of brothers became household names when their murder trial was broadcast on television during the early ’90s. The two were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for the murder of their parents.

During Monday’s interview, Chavez also explained that he went from “Monsters” to “Grotesquerie” fairly quickly, with little time to switch gears.

“There was no time in between and there was no compression,” Chavez said. “One oe of the nicer parts about playing Father Charlie is that I could really just follow my impulses. I just trusted my instincts. Everyone around me enabled me to make really bold choices. With Lyle, there was intensive, intensive preparation. This one was more so just raw, unbridled impulse.”

FX’s “Grotesquerie” premieres the first hour of its 10-episode season on Wednesday. “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” is now available to stream on Netflix.

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