Who is Cooper Koch in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story? Actor's role, age, and more explored

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, the Netflix series released on September 19, 2024, tells the real-life story of the Menendez brothers. Since the premiere of the 9-episode biographical series, viewers have been curious to know more about the actors who brought the titular brothers to life on screen.

Cooper Koch plays Erik Menendez's role in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Koch is a rising American actor who has already starred in some films and shows and comes from an established Hollywood family.

Koch’s performance as Erik Menendez has grabbed the attention of viewers and critics alike. Read on to find out more about the actor.

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Cooper Koch: Everything you need to know about the actor

Koch was born on July 16, 1996, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., making him 28 years old as of September 2024. He hails from a prestigious Hollywood family. His father, Billy Koch, worked in visual effects on films such as Jerry Maguire and Space Jam. Further, his grandfather, Hawk Koch, is a movie producer and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Additionally, Cooper Koch has illustrious siblings. His brother, Payton Koch, is an Emmy-nominated editor of Only Murders in the Building, and his other brother, Walker Koch, is a musician.

Before playing Erik in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Koch played supporting roles in the series Power Book II: Ghost, the 2020 movie A New York Christmas Wedding, and the 2022 Peacock thriller They/Them. He also acted in the 2022 body-horror movie Swallowed.

Koch got an early start in the industry, making his first on-screen appearance as a child actor in the 2007 crime thriller Fracture, which his grandfather produced. Cooper graduated from the Pace School of Performing Arts in New York City in May 2018.

Koch is openly gay, and throughout his career, he has been frank about his sexuality and vocal about the rights of queer people in general and actors in particular. In an August 11, 2022, interview with the San Francisco Bay Times about his film They/Them, Koch revealed how he embraced his homosexuality when he was young.

Fans of the actor who liked his performance in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story might be disheartened by one fact: Cooper Koch does not have any social media accounts. However, he occasionally appears in his co-actors and brothers’ posts.

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Koch plays a real-life character in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story tells the story of the Menendez brothers who shot and killed their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, on August 20, 1989. On March 8, 1990, Lyle Menendez was arrested by the Beverly Hills Police. Erik surrendered soon after.

The synopsis of the series on Netflix reads:

“This riveting true-crime drama probes the lives of the Menendez brothers, convicted of the brutal 1989 murders of their parents in Beverly Hills.”

During the trial, both brothers claimed that their parents s*xually abused them. Lyle claimed that the alleged abuse started when he was just six years old. Additionally, Erik claimed that even though Lyle was exempted from the abuse when he was 8, it went on till the age of 18 in Erik’s case.

Cooper Koch told TheWrap on September 19, 2024, how he prepared to play Erik in the series. He revealed:

“I turned my trailer into Erik’s room so I had clothes everywhere, and I had pictures of him on the wall, pictures of me too.”

The actor continued:

“I listened to [Erik] and watched him religiously. And I had my music, I had all different kinds of journals, all different kinds of things to help me really feel like him and be him.”

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