Nicholas Chavez, who has been portraying long-time General Hospital character Spencer Cassadine since 2021, will be going on hiatus from the ABC soap opera very, very soon.
As reported by TVLine, Chavez’s final episode for a while will air this Wednesday, January 31. However, this isn’t a permanent goodbye but rather a temporary absence while Chavez goes to film a leading role in Ryan Murphy‘s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story.
It hasn’t yet been explained how the long-running daytime soap will write Spencer out of the series or if he’ll be replaced by another actor, similar to how Courtney Fulk took over from Eden McCoy as Jossyln Jacks while McCoy was on hiatus.
As speculated by Michael Fairman, it’s possible Spencer will follow Trina (Tabyana Ali) to Paris, where she is set to study at the Sorbonne for a semester. This would allow the character to temporarily exit the soap while Chavez wraps up his obligations on Murphy’s Netflix anthology series.
Nicholas Chavez on General Hospital; ABC/Nick Argo
However, TVLine reports that Ali is expected to continue on General Hospital while Chavez is absent, which throws some doubt on the speculation of Spencer joining Trina in Paris.
Chavez began portraying Spencer in 2021 and won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Performer in a Drama Series for the role in 2022. The character was previously played by Caden & Nicholas Laughlin (2006), Nathan & Spencer Casamassima (2006–2007), Lance Doven (2008), Rami Yousef (2009), Davin Ransom (2009–2011), and Nicolas Bechtel (2013–2020).
As reported last June, Chavez will star alongside Cooper Koch as the infamous Menendez brothers, Erik and Lyle, who were convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents. Chavez is set to play Lyle, while Koch will portray Erik.
In addition, the cast includes Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny as the siblings’ parents, Jose and Kitty Menéndez.
According to The Daily Mail, filming for the show started earlier this month, January 2024, as Chavez and Koch were spotted on set in Los Angeles.
It’s not yet known when Chavez will return to General Hospital.
