Ryan Paevey on shirtless scenes, Naxie, and taking a break from GH

General Hospital star Ryan Paevey (Nathan West) opens up about Naxie's future, the truth about shirtless scenes, and (brace yourselves) his upcoming break from the ABC soap.

You don't need to get your eyes checked. What you just read is correct. Ryan Paevey is indeed taking a break from his role as General Hospital's heartthrob Nathan West.

The character just successfully tied the knot with Maxie (Kirsten Storms), but it's possible he'll be off the screen for a short time while Paevey films a new movie.

"I am taking a very brief break from GH for a little while to go and be the villain for a change," he teases in an ABC7 video about his mysterious new film role. "I don't know how much I'm allowed to give you, but I'm going to be on a plane to Kentucky here in the next three or four days, and I'll probably be there for about a month."

Whether or not Paevey's time off will translate to less Nathan on-screen in the months ahead remains to be seen, but the actor at least teases what fans can expect from Naxie now that the characters are a married couple.

"I think we'll probably be happy and peaceful for a little while, so you can breathe easy for a minute," he says with a laugh, adding that even he was in the dark about whether or not the pair would make it down the aisle. "I have been conditioned to be cautiously optimistic, shall we say, until I legitimately saw on the page the vows and the words 'I do.' Prior to that, it was anybody's guess."

As for his success in the acting business and landing the role of GH's Nathan, Paevey says he periodically feels undeserving of the dream situation. "I got really lucky at strategically important times," he explains. "So I work really, really hard, and when an opportunity comes by, [I] may be fortunate to be rewarded for said hard work."

But something unexpected that came along with his luck? Being coated in kitchen grease during shirtless scenes for the soap. "That was actually me coated in Pam non-stick spray," he says with a laugh when one of his sexy scenes flashes on the screen. "It's sweat that never dries."

For Paevey's full interview, check out ABC7's segment with the actor below.

UPDATE: It appears that the photo we used for this article has caused a bit of a stir -- even Ryan Paevey took time out to tweet about the "interesting placement" of the Pam.

What do you think about Paevey taking a break from GH? What kind of storylines do you hope are in Naxie's future? And are you surprised to hear the soap uses Pam cooking spray for shirtless scenes? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.