A defining moment unfolds in the opening episode of Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. During a charged family dinner, Lyle’s wig is abruptly snatched away by his mother, Kitty. For Nicholas Alexander Chavez, who plays Lyle, this pivotal moment provided both a challenge and a breakthrough in his portrayal.
“I had set up the wig to be really symbolic for Lyle in terms of the mask that he wears and the kind of person that he presents himself as to the world,” Chavez explains to Gold Derby. “What happens when there is no mask? What happens when you can no longer pretend to be something that you’re not? And who is the person that is revealed?”
The de-wigging not only represents the literal unmasking of Lyle, but it also symbolizes the broader themes of identity and deception woven throughout the series. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story centers on the 1989 murders of José (Javier Bardem) and Kitty Menendez (Chloë Sevigny). Golden Globe nominee Cooper Koch plays Erik, Lyle’s younger brother with whom he commits the gruesome double homicide.
The series debuted at number one worldwide on Netflix, launching Chavez, a Daytime Emmy winner for General Hospital, into a new level of fame. He’s been playfully dubbed “the internet’s new boyfriend,” but the actor remains focused on his craft. “It’s very sweet. … But for me as an artist, I just want to stay centered in the fact that my job is to make really, really interesting things. I want to make great TV and great movies,” he says.
Monsters not only captivated audiences but also revived discussions about the Menendez brothers’ real-life legal drama, shining new light on the possibilities of a re-sentencing. “It’s a really complex and nuanced case,” Chavez says. “If anything, I feel like the brothers never really got a true second trial. They didn’t allow a lot of the evidence from the first trial to be admitted. So it felt like we had the hung jury and then the second trial. I don’t know that that was a true evaluation of the brothers and what they went through. So I’m glad that it’s going to have another day in court, I really am.”
Chavez identifies the challenge of embedding multiple perspectives within his character as one of the most demanding aspects of his role. “It really is … taking your own ego out of it,” he says, highlighting the importance of translating diverse and often conflicting views within the frame of his character’s development. “Life isn’t black and white. It’s a lot of gray area. And so we wanted to be conducive and accretive to what other people’s perspectives were. What was Dominick Dunne’s perspective at the time? What was Jose’s perspective? What was Kitty’s perspective?”
When it comes to costars Bardem and Sevigny, Chavez calls them “absolute legends.” He recounts, “They’re very creative individuals and impulsive in the best way. When I say impulsive, I mean that they’re constantly surprising you with the ideas that they’re bringing to the scene. Every take is truly different, which as an actor gives you a million different things to work off of.”
“One of the things that I really learned from Javier is he’s an incredible leader on set, and he really knows how to rally everyone,” Chavez continues. “And the crews, they pull such long days. So if you can show up with a positive attitude and be a team player, even when you’re filming really, really difficult stuff, that’s absolutely essential. So he set a great example in more ways than one, so did Chloë.”
Despite the trauma Lyle goes through in this series, his character also provides some of the lighter, funnier moments. “Some of the most fun moments are the moments in which he’s the most unlikable,” Chavez says. “Sometimes we find ourselves in moments of such supreme inauthenticity that it is actually comical. It’s also tragic. Comedy and tragedy are so closely intertwined. It’s almost the fact that he is this deeply, deeply wounded person who feels the need to behave as though he is his dad in many ways, that sets him up for an inauthentic experience of himself.”
Chavez followed up his role in Monsters by appearing in another Ryan Murphy series, Grotesquerie, on FX. “I felt so flattered that Ryan wanted me to play another character in another one of his worlds,” the actor states. “He’s got such a unique take on so many things … to work with someone who has such a high level of specificity on two different projects, you really can’t help but grow as an artist just by listening to him and seeing what he has to say.”
As for what’s next, Chavez is currently filming I Know What You Did Last Summer, a remake of the 1997 horror film, in which Jennifer Love Hewitt reprises her starring role of Julie James. He remains tight-lipped on the project, but shares that it’s going to be a “really fun movie,” adding, “I think that people will for sure enjoy themselves.”
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is currently streaming on Netflix; Grotesquerie can be watched on Hulu.
