Monsters actor refers to Erik Menendez as ‘kind of a friend’ after visiting him in prison with Kim Kardashian
Monsters star Cooper Koch has opened up about his visit to Erik Menendez in prison, revealing he now regards him as 'kind of a friend'.
Following its release on Netflix last week, the latest instalment of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's true crime series has skyrocketed to number one on viewing charts and seen the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez introduced to a whole new generation of people.
The series has also received mixed reactions, with the real life Erik calling Monsters a 'dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime'.
He continued: "Those awful lies have been disrupted and exposed by countless brave victims over the last two decades who have broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out."
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In the following days, it was reported that Koch - who played Erik in the Netflix series - had met him in person at Donovan Correctional Facility, California, after Kim Kardashian invited him to join a visit regarding her ongoing prison reform work.
The actor, 28, has since opened up about meeting Erik in person in an exclusive interview with LADbible, saying it was 'really, really rewarding' to speak face-to-face with the 53-year-old.
“He really appreciated it," Koch revealed, adding that Erik had heard 'nothing but great things' about his critically acclaimed episode The Hurt Man (episode 5) in particular.
"He will watch it at some point, but he's taking his time. I understand that it must be incredibly difficult," he continued.
"He was really appreciative."
The They/Them star then went on to add that he had been able to form a positive relationship with Erik, adding that all he wanted to do was share his compassion with him and reaffirm his belief in the Menendez brothers' allegations of abuse against their parents.
"Really all I wanted to do was to look, give him a hug, look him in the eye, tell him that I believed him, that I support him, and that I did everything in my power as an actor and a storyteller to tell his story as authentically as possible and with as much integrity as possible," he said
"I think, I can kind of call him a friend now, which is really, really rewarding and the best gift of all," he said.
Koch's co-star, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, was similarly compassionate when it came to talking about the case, adding that he wanted to approach his characterisation of Lyle in a 'holistic' way.
"I wanted to be thorough in my research, which meant that I wanted to first visit all of the Court TV footage. I wanted to read every book that was put out about the Menendez brothers, or that was Menendez brothers adjacent such as the book that Leslie Abramson wrote," he told LADbible.
"I was looking at plenty of primary and secondary source material."
Chavez previously shared his reaction to Erik's statement during the premiere of Grotesquerie.
"I can only respond with sympathy and empathy in that I can only imagine how difficult it is to have the most traumatic moment of your life put up there on the screen for everyone to see," he told USA Today.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is on Netflix now.
Topics: Menendez Brothers, Netflix, Originals, US News, Kim Kardashian, Celebrity, True Crime
Brenna Cooper