The actor who plays Erik Menendez in “Monsters” Met the Convicted Murderer

• Erik Menendez told Cooper Koch that he “did a great job” playing him in “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” Koch said.
• The series focuses on the 1989 murders of José and Kitty Menendez by their two sons.
• The series has been criticized for alleged inaccuracies.

Actor Cooper Koch said Erik Menendez told him he thought he “did a great job” portraying him in the Netflix series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” — despite Menendez previously criticizing the show for alleged inaccuracies .

Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the series centers on Erik and his older brother, Lyle Menendez, who shot and killed their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in 1989.

Koch, who plays Erik, told The Hollywood Reporter that he met both Menendez brothers face-to-face during a prison visit organized by Kim Kardashian last week.

Koch said he and Erik recognized each other almost immediately during a visit to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, where both brothers are serving life sentences.

“We walked into the (prison) gymnasium and the first person we saw was Erik. And we looked into each other’s eyes and he smiled and I smiled and we hugged each other,” Koch said. “And it was really, really powerful and emotional. It was an amazing experience.”

The actor noted that both Erik and his older brother, who was also in attendance, “were so kind” and “so normal.”

While Erik told Koch that he hadn’t watched the show yet, he praised the actor for his performance.

“One of the first things Erik said was, ‘I know you’re doing great. You did a great job on episode five (“The Hurt Man”) and I’m going to watch it. It’s just, you know, it’s difficult,’” Koch said.

The show’s fifth episode sees Erik open up about his father’s alleged sexual and emotional abuse. As the brothers claimed during their high-profile trial, they killed their parents in self-defense after being sexually abused by their father for years.

“I talked to him about it, which was crazy to me,” Koch said.

As THR reported, Koch’s visit with the Menendez brothers was arranged by Kardashian, who is pursuing a law degree and has advocated for criminal justice reform.

Kardashian FaceTimed Koch to set up the visit just days before it took place, according to THR.

As Business Insider previously reported, “The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” takes dramatic license with the brothers’ personal lives and streamlines some of the legal proceedings to fit the limited series.

As the show aired, Tammi Menendez, Erik’s wife, shared a statement on X on her husband’s behalf, criticizing the show for “creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible, blatant lies.”

Murphy responded to Erik’s criticism in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

“I think it’s interesting that he issued a statement without having seen the show,” he said, adding: “It’s very, very hard – if it’s your life – to see your life on screen.”

But earlier this week, Tammi shared an additional statement about X who she said was from the Menendez family.

Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik’ is a phobic, crass, anachronistic episodic nightmare that is not only full of truths and falsehoods, but ignores the latest supporting revelations,” it said.

According to Koch, he and Erik talked about the backlash the show received for certain creative decisions.

“I talked to him about his statement,” Koch told THR. “And, you know, I just told him I understand where he’s coming from. I feel for him.”

“I can’t imagine what it must be like to have the worst parts of your life portrayed on TV in this fictional, dramatized way, you know, and so I told him I was with him,” he continued. “I understand how it must feel and that it’s really difficult.”