Monsters star Cooper Koch ‘affected’ by Erik Menendez criticism: ‘I sympathise with him’

One of the stars of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Cooper Koch, has responded to criticism from the real-life subjects of the Ryan Murphy true-crime dramatisation.

The Netflix series looks at the lives of two brothers who were sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1989 murder of their parents. It has been labelled a “naive and inaccurate” portrayal of the siblings by Erik himself, while some viewers have accused Murphy of creating “incestuous fetish porn”.

Voicing his opinion through wife Tammie’s X/Twitter account, younger brother Erik said: “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle… creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies. I can only believe [this was] done on purpose.

“It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.”

Now, according to Variety, out gay star Cooper Koch, who plays Erik, has reacted to the criticism, saying: “[His reaction] definitely affected me and it made me feel things. I sympathise with him, I empathise with him. I get it, I understand how difficult it would be to have the worst part of your life televised for millions of people to see. It’s so exposing. I understand how he feels and I stand by him.

“In terms of approaching him and approaching the part, I just wanted to do as much research and dig really deep into myself to portray him with integrity and be as authentic as possible, to support him and his family and all the people who stand with him.”

Veteran gay actor Nathan Lane, who plays investigative reporter Dominick Dunne in the show, also reacted, but had a different view.

“He hasn’t seen the show,” Lane said. “He’s just criticising it and condemning it without ever having seen it, so one has to take that with a grain of salt. He wasn’t one of the producers, so not everything might be flattering or make you happy, but I would say you should probably see it before you speak out again.”

Meanwhile, Skyfall star Javier Bardem, who portrays slain patriarch José – whom the siblings alleged sexually abused them – said: “I know [Erik] has spoken but I haven’t read it. It’s absolutely normal, logical and legitimate to say what you think about your own life being on a show. I support that.

“Ryan Murphy and [script writer] Ian Brennan give different perspectives, different views of the same issue because nothing is set in stone. That also includes the way to perform the character. We have to be open as actors to play and shift from one perspective to the other, depending on who is telling the story.”

Murphy previously brushed aside the criticism, while speaking to Entertainment Tonight at the launch of his next project, Grotesquerie.

“It’s interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show. I know he hasn’t seen the show in prison. I hope he does see the show. I think it’s really hard, if it’s your life, to see your life up on screen. The thing I find interesting, that he doesn’t mention, and that nobody from that side of the isle was talking about, is, if you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 per cent, in the scripts and in the film form, centres around the abuse and what they claim happened to them.

“We do it very carefully and we give them their day in court and talk openly about it. We present the facts from their point of view.”

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is streaming on Netflix now.

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