Cooper Koch believes he was fated to play Erik Menendez — even if it took almost a decade for it to happen. Years before the latest installment in Netflix’s “Monster” anthology series, the actor had unsuccessfully auditioned for the same role in two previous television retellings: NBC’s “Law & Order: True Crime” and Lifetime’s “Menendez: Blood Brothers,” both released in 2017. He felt compassion for Erik and his brother, Lyle, so when he heard about “Monsters,” he was determined to land the part.
“I was getting another chance to be a part of telling their story,” Koch said. “Having it come back around, it was just kismet. I was like, ‘OK, this is my time to get this job.’”
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” dramatizes the infamous 1989 parricides of José and Kitty Menendez (Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny) and the media circus surrounding the murder trials of Lyle and Erik, which resulted in life sentences for the two in 1996. Of the many previous interpretations of this story, “Monsters” is among the most controversial and salacious. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the nine-episode limited series draws upon the real-life case and testimonies but also takes significant creative liberties, presenting different perspectives and leaning into various speculative theories about the brothers’ motivations and relationship (including the suggestion that they had an incestuous romance).
Shortly after “Monsters’” September 2024 launch, the real Erik Menendez criticized the series for its “dishonest portrayal,” and the family claimed it was “riddled with mistruths and outright falsehoods.” Murphy countered the critiques, labeling it “faux outrage” and stating that “Monsters” should not be treated as fact. “The show really took a bunch of people’s perceptions, perspectives and stories and put them all together for everybody to see,” Koch said. “The point was to show what the media can do with the smallest amount of information and how it can go sideways.”
Koch, who appeared in Peacock’s Blumhouse horror movie “They/Them” in 2022, knew going into “Monsters” that it was “going to be a big thing.” He had seen the success of the first installment, which earned Evan Peters an Emmy nomination in 2023 for his portrayal of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. As he prepared to play Erik, he worked through any moral dilemma he felt about portraying a convicted murder. (The actor met Erik last October at a San Diego prison, after the show had started streaming.)
“With any character, whether it’s a real person or not, even if they’re a despicable, horrible person and they make terrible choices and they do terrible things, you still have to find a way to be their biggest defender,” Koch said. “I was always on Erik’s side, no matter what it was. Even if there was something in the script that didn’t paint him in a light that I agreed with or felt was truthful, I would reroute that in my brain: ‘I’m being Erik in someone else’s mind. This is how someone else perceives him, so I will play that out for this moment.’”
Koch hangs his hat on the series’ harrowing fifth episode, titled “The Hurt Man.” Filmed in a single take without cuts, the 33-minute installment — the shortest of the series — features a devastating conversation between Erik and his defense attorney Leslie Abramson (Ari Graynor) as he graphically recounts the physical and sexual abuse he endured at the hands of his parents. The camera stays on Erik, who goes through a wide range of emotions, creating a feeling of raw intimacy. “When Ryan first told me about [the episode], I remember feeling so excited and lucky and grateful that I would get the opportunity to really strip down Erik’s story and his truth,” Koch said.
Because the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes pushed filming back, Koch had an unusually quiet eight-month period to sit with the script. He read it every day, writing out each word by hand, listening to court tapes and workshopping the dialogue with his acting coach. When it came time to film, Koch had already been living in Erik’s skin for months. Still, there were challenges. For two full days, he and Graynor remained entrenched in that sparse interrogation room, shooting eight versions of the scene.
“It kind of was like, here we go. I’m going to trust that I’ve done everything that I can and hope that the pressure doesn’t take over and destroy everything that I’ve worked on to get to this point,” Koch said.
“And those first couple takes, it definitely did — in trying to get it right and wanting it to be perfect and then learning to let that go.”
Since “Monsters,” public interest around the Menendez brothers’ case has grown. A campaign driven by social media and the re-examination of allegations of sexual abuse by their father led to their sentences being reduced to 50 years to life. After 35 years in prison, they are now eligible for parole. Koch has been a vocal ally throughout, supporting the brothers when he attended a resentencing hearing in Van Nuys, California, on April 11.
“The timing of [the show], that it came out at this moment, did give [the case] that final push at everybody to be like, ‘No, we really do need to take another look at this because there is a really sad, dark story here that could potentially heal a lot of people’s trauma, especially the brothers’ and their whole family’s,’” Koch said. “If I had anything to do with that, I just feel lucky and grateful to be a part of it.”
This story first ran in the Limited Series & TV Movies issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Read more from the Limited Series & TV Movies issue here.
