Schön! 47 | nicholas alexander chavez wearing Dior Men, Fursac + Azature
wearing Dior Men, Fursac + Azature
With devilishly compelling roles in Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story and Grotesquerie, actor Nicholas Alexander Chavez has proven that he is far from faint-hearted. Opening up with Schön! while wearing Dior Men, Fursac and Azature for his #AllAboutArtcover story, he explains how he’s drawn to inscrutable personalities that subvert all audience expectations through the many masks that they wear. Chavez hopes the roles of Lyle Menendez and Father Charlie remain a mystery to him decades from now. While both characters are equally hellish, albeit in their own unique ways, the actor searches deep within himself to find a way to make these monsters a little bit more human.
“As an actor, you are obligated toward the drama of the script,” he states. “There are so many different creative individuals who are exercising their artistic work and voice in this project. So, your research and interpretation are in constant negotiation and conversation with the many other great artistic voices.” Taking on the role of Lyle Menendez in Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story, Chavez was first attracted to the turmoil hidden beneath the surface of a glamorous Beverly Hills family. While obsessively scouring court TV footage, devouring every documentary of the trial and speaking to people in the industry who knew the family personally, Chavez accepted he needed to be an artist too.
It was also important to find the humanity of his character. “Lyle is, above all, a deeply wounded and traumatised human being,” Chavez explains. “You have to be brave enough to search within yourself and find the ways that you can relate to this character, not only in his places of pain, but also in his places of joy and love.” Unlocking that trauma on set required Chavez to be disciplined. “I think knowing how to come in and come out of the character is really important,” he tells us. “As artists, many of us are naturally very obsessive people… So, throughout filming this project, I had to keep reminding myself to take care of my basic human needs.”
Jumping straight from Monsters to the set of Grotesquerie, a series that “explores the darkest crevices of Ryan Murphy’s imagination and intellect” and picks apart our obsession with religion and ritual, Chavez revelled in being able to exercise different aspects of his artistic identity, where no choice was off limits for his character Father Charlie. Taking inspiration from a recent trip to Italy, he was able to “imbue the character with a similar amount of visual richness – an imposing and undeniable quality that would make believers out of people who might not have an alternative, or who may operate out of ignorance… He’s just a hellish person who weaponises his own sexuality and theatricality.”
Invigorated by these dark and twisted roles, Chavez is figuring out which mask he wants to wear next.
shirt. Saint Laurent
tie. Doublet
trousers. Emporio Armani
shoes. Maison Margiela
opposite
shirt. Burberry
belt. Alexander McQueen
jeans. MM6 Maison Margiela
top. Dior Men
shirt + bow tie. Fursac
trousers. Reebok x Hed Mayner
shoes. Maison Margiela
cufflinks. Azature
opposite
shirt. Burberry
shirt. Burberry
belt. Alexander McQueen
jeans. MM6 Maison Margiela
opposite
coat + trousers. Emporio Armani
shirt. Saint Laurent
tie. Doublet
shoes. Maison Margiela
suit + brooch. Giorgio Armani
tuxedo. Fursac
shirt. Ann Demeulemeester
