Nicholas Chavez didn’t grow up with his heart set on an acting career — in fact, discovering that he loved performing happened “kind of by accident,” as he puts it. In high school, he explains, “I had a mentor who was the speech and debate coach, Matt Murphy. I was playing football and Matt took over the theater department and for his first play, he put on To Kill a Mockingbird. The kid cast to play Atticus Finch got really sick and he came to me and said, ‘Look, Nick, I’ve asked about six people, and you are literally my last option. Will you please do this and try to learn the lines? It doesn’t even have to be good.’ ” After quitting the football team to work on the show, the acting bug hit fast and hard — and his raw talent was apparent enough that people around him encouraged him to think about doing it professionally. “I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with my life at that point, so to know that that existed as a career option was incredible and absolutely changed my life,” he says.
Post-high school, Chavez enrolled in the BFA/MFA program at the Mason Gross acting conservatory at Rutgers University in New Jersey, which he describes as “an up-and-down, really intense experience. Just due to the intensity of the program, it created a lot of drama, a lot of friction between some of the actors there, but I look back on that time in my life very favorably.” He dropped out after his sophomore year (“right before I was slated to move to London and do Shakespeare at the Old Globe Theatre for a year”) to give Los Angeles a shot, but when the pandemic hit and the entertainment industry shut down, he moved in with family in Florida to save money, with his sights set on returning to California eventually.
The timetable for that accelerated when the self-tape audition he’d sent in for the part of Spencer so impressed GH higher-ups that he was asked to fly out to the West Coast to screen-test opposite Maura West (Ava). Less than 24 hours later, he found out the job — his first on television — was his. “That was one of the happiest moments of my life,” he beams.
Thrust into a pivotal storyline, Chavez had “a lot of dialogue and a lot of history” to wrap his mind around as he found his footing on the show — and a wonderfully meaty character to explore. “When I went in for the screen test,” he notes, “they were big on [me portraying] that Spencer was a very confident guy, maybe even borderline arrogant; and that he had come from money, a lot of it, and had kind of reckless abandon that comes from unchecked wealth and power of that status. And of course, that he was very charming and in some ways elusive, but also direct, and he could also make a very sly comment that could hurt someone else’s feelings. Immediately, my eyes lit up, because I was so excited to play a character that had that much subtext. As I’ve gotten to know Spencer more, I’ve realized just what a deeply complicated and complex individual he is. There is a deep vulnerability there. I think that at his core, he is broken and he is trying to look for ways that he can repair himself, while also still getting everything that he feels entitled to in Port Charles.”
Eight months after his Port Charles debut, Chavez observes that “settling in has allowed me to work more creatively, because I’m not worried about the nerves of being on camera anymore. Now, I’m just thinking about how I can create the most interesting choices for people to watch and what’s going to make the most sense for the story as opposed to thinking about things like, ‘How ridiculous do I look right now?’ and those sort of self-conscious things I think every actor goes through. You also learn about different people’s personalities and to work with other members of the cast. Like any job, you find out how best to work with your peers, and that’s been happening with me.”
While the actor is grateful for how warmly his portrayal has been embraced by fans, that reaction hasn’t diminished his determination to focus on improving as an actor. He muses, “It’s great when people like the show and give good feedback, but ultimately, I’m looking to myself because I’m the only one who knows if I left it all out there on the field, so speak. Some days, I feel like, ‘Damn, I had more gas in the tank and I could have done more with that scene,’ or I’ll think of something later — ‘Oh, that would have been such a good idea for that scene!’ I’m always judging myself, first and foremost. But I’m so grateful to the fans — the only reason we get to do what we do is that there are fans who support us and love the show. I love going online and seeing the dialogue and the discussion, people going back and forth about what’s going to happen next. It’s so amazing to be part of a show that has the capability of bringing people together. I’m humbled to be a part of something magical like that.”
He intends to use his time on GH to further his artistic self-improvement. “My goal is to grow and develop artistically as an actor as best as I possibly can,” he declares. “And what’s so great about GH is that there’s so much content and storyline and character development that happens that you can learn a lot just by being here. Right now, I’m completely focused on staying present and making sure I can soak up all the education and training that is to be had in this environment.”
Did You Know?
Θ He worked at restaurants, as a tax resolution specialist and as a car salesman before landing on GH.
Θ His acting coach is Holly Gagnier, who he recently got to share the stage with when she reprised her GH role as Jennifer Smith. “It was so fun to have her on set! Holly’s a riot and so warm and friendly and full of creative ideas.”
The Games People Play
Nicholas Chavez is a chess fanatic (“I was just playing before I got on the phone with you”) and was astounded to discover that two of his Port Charles relatives, Marcus Coloma (Nikolas) and Genie Francis (Laura), share his real-life passion. “Marcus has become one of my closest friends on the show, and he’s a total chess nerd like me,” he enthuses. “We found this out early on and added each other on Chess.com, and now, even when he’s in one part of the world and I’m in another, we play all the time. We both stay up until the wee hours of the night watching videos on YouTube with how to improve our strategy and things like that. He is really an addicted player, as am I! And Genie Francis is an amazing player. We only played one game together, but she beat me — she beat me pretty badly! I’m really looking forward to the rematch [laughs]. It’s just so crazy — the chess thing, to me, was almost like a spiritual indicator when I first got there because I’ve been playing chess for so long and then to arrive at GENERAL HOSPITAL and find numerous people who enjoy and love the same game that I do, and would sit in the green room and play with me, it really made me feel like, ‘There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m in the right place.’ ”
Just The Facts:
Birthday: September 6
Provenance: Born in Houston, TX, Chavez grew up primarily in Denver, CO.
Romantic Status: He is happily spoken for and describes his girlfriend as “a wonderful brainiac that I absolutely adore”.
Sibling Revelry: Chavez has a 15-year-old half brother and a 9-year-old half sister on his mom’s side, and a 15-year-old half brother on his dad’s side.
Puppy Love: The Chavez family dog, a 1-year-old Great Dane, is named Moo “because he’s white with black spots, like a cow.”
Track Stars: “I’m into this weird kind of music called future funk; it’s kind of like soul and funk and R&B all in one. Some of my favorite artists are Blood Orange, Yves Tumor, and I’m a Mac Miller fan — but I’ve also been listening to a lot of Bruce Springsteen recently.”
Game On: He recently got his hands on a coveted PlayStation 5 by lining up outside of a GameStop at 5 a.m. and waiting for five hours, but insists, “I’m not a hard-core gamer like some people I know. I like the mainstream stuff — Madden, Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty. If I’ve just memorized a script, I’ll play something to let my mind process it.”
Grin And Bare It: The actor spent several of his early episodes clad only in a swimsuit as Spencer made use of the Metro Court pool. “Everybody made me feel very safe and comfortable,” he assures. “I mostly felt bad for the makeup artists who were painting my body every single day!”
