Cooper Koch Says He Can 'Empathize with' Erik Menéndez's Critique of “Monsters”: It 'Definitely Affected Me'

"I understand how difficult it would be to have the worst part of your life be televised for millions of people to see," Koch said

Cooper Koch, who plays Erik Menéndez in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story, is speaking out about the ongoing backlash to the show.

After the Menéndez brothers and the public began to criticize Ryan Murphy’s Monsters for its portrayal of them — particularly the sexual relationship between the two — the cast is reacting. Koch told Varietythat he understands where people are coming from.

“[Erik’s reaction] definitely affected me and it made me feel things,” he said. “I sympathize with him, I empathize with him. I get it. I understand how difficult it would be to have the worst part of your life be 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 really wanted to do as much research and dig really deep into myself to really portray him with integrity and just be as authentic as possible to support him and also to support his family and all the people who stand with him,” Koch added.

Related: Lyle and Erik Menendez Trial Expert Says Incest Storyline in Ryan Murphy's Monsters Series Is 'a Fantasy'

Erik had previously come out with a statement about the nine-episode series, saying that the show was “rooted in horrible and blatant lies” about him and brother Lyle, slamming Murphy for airing false information. The statement was also posted on Lyle's social media.

“It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women,” Erik wrote. “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. So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander.”

"Is the truth not enough? Let the truth stand as the truth," he continued. "How demoralizing is it to know that one man with power can undermine decades of progress in shedding light on childhood trauma."

On Sept. 23, Murphy told Entertainment Tonightthat he had “many things to say about that” statement.

"I think it's interesting that [Erik] issued a statement without having seen the show," he explained. "I know he hasn't seen the show in prison. I hope he does see the show. I think he sees the work that Cooper Koch did."

Murphy expressed empathy for the fact that the Menéndez brothers have to see their “life up on screen,” calling it “really, really hard.”

"If you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent of our show, in the scripts and in the film form, center around the abuse and what they claim happened to them," he explained. "We do it very carefully, and we give them their day in court, and they talk openly about it, we present the facts from their point of view."

Related: Ryan Murphy Has 'Many Things to Say' Following Erik Menendez's Critiques of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story

Knowing it could be controversial to show any type of sexual abuse, Murphy said his team spent three years researching the Menéndez brothers’ case and decided to take a “Rashomon kind of approach.”

"There were four people involved in that. Two of them are dead and two of them are alive," he told the outlet. "But what about the parents? We had an obligation to storytellers to also try and put in their perspective, based on our research, which we did."

Related: Where Are the Menendez Brothers Now? A Look at Erik and Lyle's Lives in Prison — and the New Evidence That Could Get Them Out

Javier Bardem, who plays José Menéndez in the show, also spoke to Variety, saying that he wasn’t aware of the contents of Erik’s response but can see why he would be upset.

“I know he has spoken, but I haven’t read it,” Bardem said. “But of course it’s absolutely normal, logical and legitimate to say what you think about your own life being on a show. I support that. [Series creators] Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan give different perspectives, different views of the same issue because nothing is set in stone."

He added: "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 are who is telling the story.”

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story is about Erik and Lyle’s murder of their parents José and Mary Louse "Kitty" Menéndez. It then follows them into the subsequent trial in the early '90s.

The brothers murdered their parents in their family home in Beverly Hills in August 1989, with Lyle later calling 911 sobbing about finding their parents dead when they returned home from a movie.

Erik and Lyle were eventually both arrested and found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder. They were sentenced to life in prison without parole and are currently serving time at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

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

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