Who plays Father Charlie Mayhew in Grotesquerie series? Character role explored

FX's Grotesquerie features gruesome murder scenes, odd religious notes, and mysterious characters, including Father Charlie Mayhew, played by Nicholas Alexander Chavez.

The Emmy-award-winning actor is best known for his role in the long-running soap opera General Hospital. In Ryan Murphy's Grotesquerie, he plays a "young, forward-thinking priest" who weaponizes his sexuality and enjoys doing things that toe the line between being good and sinful.

Besides Chavez, the new FX horror thriller stars Niecy Nash-Betts as Detective Lois Tryon and Micaela Diamond as Sister Megan Duval, the nun/reporter who develops a sinfully close relationship with Chavez's Father Charlie.

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Nicholas Alexander Chavez's character in Grotesquerie explored

Chavez plays Father Charlie Mayhew in the horror series. FX Networks describes his character as someone who had his "eyes opened by Sister Megan's journalism." A preview of his character also reads:

"He walks a thin line between traditional values, his progressive worldview and his desires as a passionate and virile young man."

Father Charlie's character first appeared in the second episode of Grotesquerie season 1, titled True Crime Catholics. He was giving a sermon at the church before he went with Sister Megan to a burger joint, where they talked about the town's murders and their love for true crime dramas.

Episode 2 of the FX series also showed Chavez's character's kink for leather chaps and self-flagellation. He has big aspirations for his church, although his methods are highly unconventional and borderline on being questionable. He has a nickname, "the Pedaling Priest." In Grotesquerie episode 4, he showed off his abs to his followers while spin cycling and told them:

"You are saving your souls from sinning while spinning."

Chavez described his character in the series as "very conflicted." He explained his character to The Wrap, saying:

"The way he sees himself and the way he sees the world around him, it often doesn't line up with what he says he believes. He's willing to take big risks to get what he wants."

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Nicholas Alexander Chavez's career beyond Grotesquerie

The Houston, Texas-born actor has established himself in the acting world. He debuted as Jason Curtis in the 2022 comedy romance film Crushed, which Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse's Niki Koss directed.

After playing the young man in the movie, Chavez bagged the role of the troubled young boy, Spencer Cassadine, in the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital. He played the character in the long-running medical drama for 358 episodes from 2021 to 2024. Playing the young Cassadine character won him an Emmy for being an Outstanding Young Performer in a Drama Series in 2022.

Nicholas Alexander Chavez also portrayed the role of Lyle Menendez, the older Menendez brother, in Netflix's hotly anticipated limited series Monsters. The character is based on the real-life Menendez brothers, who murdered their wealthy parents inside their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.

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Catch new episodes of Grotesquerie every Wednesday at 10 pm ET on FX and every Thursday on Hulu.