The two chat with EW’s “The Awardist” podcast about the true-crime series from Ryan Murphy.
“Cooper and I just met, by the way.
“The scene ends, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, are you okay?’
MILES CRIST/NETFLIX.
They both got the jobs, of course.
His conclusion: “Ultimately, Lyle is just a wounded, wounded boy.
When “the mask falls,” Chavez says, were the hardest scenes for him.
Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez, Javier Bardem as José Menendez in ‘Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story’.Miles Crist/Netflix
“You have nothing to hide behind.
you’ve got the option to’t act like someone who is confident, or has the bravado.
you’ve got the option to’t act like your dad.
you’re able to’t act like a record label executive.
You just have to be that wounded 10-year-old boy.”
“It became the whole throughline for my character.
And thematically, it was about identity,” Koch explains.
What do I want, and what am I without the experiences that I’ve had?
And does that define me?
Nicholas Alexander Chavez in ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’.Miles Crist/Netflix
Does that not define me?
Am I a tennis player?
Am I an actor?
Ari Graynor and Cooper Koch in ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’.Miles Crist/Netflix
Am I a writer?
Who am I?'”
“That was the first time I saw the mask come off, which was so heartbreaking.
Brad Culver, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, and Cooper Koch in ‘Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story’.Miles Crist/Netflix
He’s sort of struggling with this too, it’s not just me.
‘…It just felt so real, and we had to do it so many times.”
Chavez admits there’s “so much to be impressed by” from Koch.
Does that make me an even worse person?’
And I just thought that Cooper played those moments beautifully.”
I say really horrible things,” he admits.
It’s 30 years later, 35 years later.
I just think it’s ridiculous.
That was just his recommendation.
However, they do have another route of going to their parole board hearing, which is in June.
And so, that looks really positive.
I spoke with Erik last week, and he’s still very nervous but also really hopeful and excited.
I’m the same."
