‘General Hospital’ Star Taking Leave of Absence

General Hospital fans will be seeing less of one actor who is taking a leave of absence from the daytime soap opera. TV Line reports that actor Nicholas Alexander Chavez has been cast in the next season of Ryan Murphy’s Monster series at Netflix. He will be portraying Lyle Hernandez, opposite Cooper Koch as Erik Hernandez. The two real-life brothers were convicted of killing their parents after alleging a lifetime of abuse.

With Chavez off to a new series, his General Hospital character Spencer Cassadine will be temporarily absent as well. However, it’s currently unclear exactly how Spencer’s exit from the current storyline will be addressed. Notably, in 2022 Chavez won the Daytime Emmy for outstanding young performer in a drama series, for his role as Spencer. He later took to Instagram to celebrate the “lifelong dream” coming true. “It was an emotional night to say the least,” Chaves wrote. “Thank you for the outpouring of love I’ve received from the fans. Thank you to my family and friends for all of your support and for believing in me.”

At General Hospital, Chavez previously took over playing Spencer Cassadine from Nicolas Bechtel. Spencer is the son of Nikolas Cassadine (Adam Huss) and the late Courtney Matthews (Alicia Leigh Willis). Spencer had been attending European boarding schools for most of his childhood but recently returned to Port Charles.

Speaking to PEOPLE in a past interview, Chavez opened up about how being on General Hospital had impacted his career. “It’s changed everything about me,” he said. “Before the show, I was selling cars in Florida. I live across the country now. I was driving my dad’s old Jeep and now, I’m sitting in a car that I paid for. This show has given me the opportunity to become my own guy. It’s also given me the gift few people get in life – the privilege to earn an income doing what I love to do every single day. If I’m not the luckiest guy in the world, I’ve got to be damned close.”

Fans will know that Spencer has been fighting his ex-girlfriend Esme (Avery Kristen Pohl) for custody of his little brother. Spencer’s dad is the father of Esme’s baby, and Spencer’s girlfriend Trina (Tabyana Ali) has been very supportive through it all. “When Spencer is with Trina, it’s the closest thing to home he’s ever felt. He didn’t have a mom, his dad has mostly been absent. He’s never felt home or family any other time in his life,” Chavez offered. “With Trina, it’s peace and happiness. It’s tough love when it needs to be, but it’s also balance, safety, and freedom of expression. It’s truth. It’s all those things and there’s no other place Spencer has that.”