AP Breakthrough Entertainer: Nicholas Alexander Chavez feels best between 'action' and 'cut'

It's not an exaggeration to say Nicholas Alexander Chavez had a very good year.

Now a member of Ryan Murphy's unofficial acting troupe, he starred in two of the creator's new series. First came the Golden Globe-nominated “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” for Netflix. Chavez played Lyle, the elder of two brothers serving a lifetime prison sentence for killing their parents, Jose and Kitty, in 1989.

Chavez recognizes some parts of the series are “really, really difficult to digest” but points out that “Monsters” shows multiple sides to the story. The brothers have said they killed their parents out of self-defense, following sexual abuse by their father.

“To my knowledge, it’s the first TV show about the Menendez brothers that’s told in that format,” said Chavez, who prepared by watching old court footage. (The drama — and a new documentary — reignited public interest in the case, and a judge is weighing Los Angeles County prosecutors' request to resentence the brothers.)

It was toward the end of filming “Monsters” that Murphy invited Chavez to join Niecy Nash in “Grotesquerie,” a double act that earned him a spot as one of The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024.

“I was just so excited that he thought of me,” said Chavez of the opportunity. “I had studied Season 1 of ‘Monsters.’” The opportunity to act with Nash, says Chavez, “was really kind of a wonderful way for me to close the loop.” To get into character as Father Charlie, Chavez would listen to music: “Don’t Do Anything Illegal” by Charles Manson — yes, that one — was on his playlist.

Even before the Murphyverse, the 25-year-old had a loyal following from his work on ABC’s “General Hospital,” TV’s longest-running soap. Chavez was selling cars during the pandemic when he auditioned for and got a part on the daytime show. He played Spencer Cassadine, a grandson of legacy character Laura of the Luke and Laura days. A year later, he won the 2022 Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding younger performer in a drama series.

Of the training that actors get from soap operas, Chavez said the series helped him: “It’s no joke when they talk about the memorization. I think that my heaviest day on set was something like 85 pages.”

A career in acting wasn't on Chavez's radar until he played Atticus Finch in his high school production of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

“I just really, really enjoyed myself,” recalled Chavez. “I felt really free and present and immersed in the moment. It felt like I was doing the thing that I was put on earth to do.”

He remembers being told afterward by teachers that he should pursue acting as a career. Their encouragement stuck with him: “Not many kids in Denver got told this. It’s not really a part of the infrastructure the way that it is in LA or maybe in New York.”

Cooper Koch, who played Erik Menendez in “Monsters,” credits Chavez’s layered performance in the series. He recalls a scene when his character confesses to the crimes in a therapy session. Lyle bursts through the door to stop him.

“He’s sort of pleading with the doctor like, ‘We’re going to be OK, right? You can’t tell anyone,’” Koch said. “After we cut, me and Nick and our director of photography, Jason McCormick, sort of huddled up outside and we just started crying. It was so beautiful. And I really, really saw his (Lyle’s) humanity and the lion mask kind of come off and he became this wounded child. It was so, so beautiful to witness.”

Next, Chavez has a role in the “I Know What You Did Last Summer” reboot. He also says he would like to get cast in a comedy. More than anything, he just wants to be on set working.

“My life feels whole and complete between the words ‘action’ and ‘cut.’ I live for those moments,” he said. “I think that is the purpose of my entire existence. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

For more on AP’s 2024 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, visit https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers

This combination of photos shows AP's 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha'la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)

This combination of photos shows AP's 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha'la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)

Nicholas Alexander Chavez poses for a portrait on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. Chavez has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Nicholas Alexander Chavez poses for a portrait on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. Chavez has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Nicholas Alexander Chavez poses for a portrait on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. Chavez has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Nicholas Alexander Chavez poses for a portrait on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. Chavez has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Nicholas Alexander Chavez poses for a portrait on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. Chavez has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hannah Kobayashi, the missing Hawaii woman whose disappearance prompted a massive search and a missing persons investigation in Los Angeles, has been found safe, police said Wednesday.

Kobayashi vanished last month in Los Angeles. She missed her connecting flight and planned to explore the city the next day, but subsequent text messages to her family — and an inability to then reach her — alarmed them so much that they later reported her missing.

Other details about her disappearance, as well as where and how she was found, were not immediately available Wednesday, but police previously said she was “voluntarily missing” and had gone on her own will across the border into Mexico.

“We are happy to learn that Hannah has been found safe," the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. “Now that we have this new information, this has become a private matter and we will wrap up our investigation.”

Kobayashi's mother and sister, in a statement through their lawyer, were the first to announce Wednesday that she had been found safe.

“We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe,” Brandi Yee and Sydni Kobayashi wrote. “This past month has been an unimaginable ordeal for our family, and we kindly ask for privacy as we take the time to heal and process everything we have been through. We want to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported us during this difficult time. Your kindness and concern have meant the world to us.”

Kobayashi, a budding photographer from Maui, was heading to New York City on Nov. 8 for a new job and to visit relatives when she missed a connecting flight during a stop at Los Angeles International Airport. She told her family she was sleeping at the airport that night and texted them the next day to say she was sightseeing in Los Angeles.

Her family reported her missing to law enforcement on Nov. 11 after relatives received “strange and cryptic, just alarming” text messages, according to her aunt Larie Pidgeon.

“Once the family started pressing, she went dark,” Pidgeon told The Associated Press late last month. After the texts on Nov. 11, her phone “just went dead,” Pidgeon said.

Family members, friends and local volunteers searched for Hannah in Los Angeles. Hannah’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, was among those who flew in from Hawaii to help in the search. He was found dead Nov. 24 in a parking lot near LA International Airport, according to the county medical examiner. Kobayashi’s family confirmed Ryan Kobayashi's death in a statement the same day, saying they “endured a devastating tragedy” and that he died by suicide.

Police said Hannah Kobayashi walked into Mexico at the San Ysidro border crossing about 125 miles (201 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles on Nov. 12, the day after her family reported her missing. Authorities made the announcement after reviewing security video from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Kobayashi disappeared voluntarily as she sought to “step away from modern connectivity,” Jim McDonnell, the LA police chief, previously said.

FILE - Ryan Kobayashi, center, holds a picture of his missing daughter Hannah Kobayashi outside Crypto.com Arena, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)