Cooper Koch was ‘terrified’ before filming a specific ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ episode

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Koch, who skillfully portrayed Erik, itted that episode 5, titled “The Hurt Man,” was the most daunting since it focuses on his character finally talking about the mental, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse he experienced throughout his childhood. For context, the entire 33-minute installment needed to be filmed in one take. It only features one other actor, Ari Graynor, as Erik’s defense attorney, Leslie Abramson, who doesn’t have many lines. The camera starts over Graynor’s shoulder, with Koch in the shot, and slowly, over the 33 minutes, ends on a close-0up on Koch as tears stream down his cheeks.

When Koch received the script, he analyzed the material and made notes alongside his lines. “The script became the backbone of my prep because it was the backstory that I didn’t have to write for myself, for the character,” he explained. “[I was] very excited to be able to just exist as him for that long and to finally say these words that I had been reading and working on and making my own for such a long time. It was a beautiful experience — but also terrifying and exhilarating.”

Most of his nerves about the series came from the pressure Koch put on himself because he “wanted to be good.” When it came time to film “The Hurt Man,” director Michael Uppendahl shot eight takes over two days. But the actor wasn’t happy with his first two attempts at the episode. “Those first two were not my best. I was too aware of the camera and what was happening on the production side of things,” he recalled. “I felt like s**t. I went to my trailer. I was so upset. I was like, it’s not coming out.”

But after a pep talk from Graynor and Uppendahl on the second day of filming, Koch was able to nail it. “The third take, it all came out, and it was so visceral, and I felt so good about that one,” he said. “Every take that day was different and alive and interesting. And I felt more confident having done the first day.”  Koch also made sure that he looked at Graynor in a more introspective way in the final moments of the episode. The final take from the eight that were filmed was used for the episode.

Although the Netflix series ends with resentence Erik, 53, and Lyle Menendez, 56, who he believes have “paid their debt to society.” The brothers’ resentencing was initially set for December 11, 2024, but has since been pushed back to January 30 and 31, 2025.