When Cooper Koch yet played Erik Menendez successful Netflix’s “Monsters,” it was a existent full-circle infinitesimal for nan actor, who has virtually been auditioning to play nan portion for 8 years.

“My 2nd audition ever was for nan ‘Law & Order’ bid astir them successful 2017,” Koch said successful his Variety Actors connected Actors interview pinch Sam Nivola. “And past I besides had an audition for the Lifetime movie that they were doing nan aforesaid year. I conscionable felt this insane cosmic point that was like, ‘I person to play this part.’ And this immense empathy.”

California-native Koch moreover went to nan aforesaid Calabasas precocious schoolhouse that Menendez attended earlier moving to Beverly Hills.

“There are each these weird parallels,” he said.

Erik and his relative Lyle Menendez were convicted successful 1995 of nan 1989 execution of their parents, Kitty and José, successful nan surviving room of nan family’s Beverly Hills mansion. Koch developed a narration pinch his real-life counterpart aft “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” was released past fall, aft visiting Erik successful jail.

“I still attraction truthful profoundly astir some of them. They’re going to parole committee successful June; that looks very positive,” he said (the brothers’ parole proceeding day has been postponed to August since nan question and reply was conducted).

In preparing for nan role, Koch said that he studied recordings of Menendez constantly.

“I listened to him each nighttime earlier I went to bed. I had him connected successful nan car erstwhile I was driving,” he recalled. “I really did want to get his sound and mannerisms, because they each further support that he was being sexually abused by his father. I cognize there’s truthful galore perspectives, but I ever wanted nan assemblage to sympathize pinch him.”

Koch, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for his capacity successful nan series, has received overmuch attraction for a 33-minute one-take episode successful which Koch’s Erik describes his father’s alleged patterns of intersexual maltreatment successful excoriating detail. The episode, which sees his lawyer Leslie Abramson (Ari Graynor) mildly prodding her client, starts successful a mean changeable of Koch and ever-so-slowly tracks successful a tight adjacent up.

“I had 8 months pinch it, truthful I conscionable publication it each day, and I would visualize what he was saying and create those images truthful clearly, truthful that erstwhile we went to do it, it would emotionally impact me,” Koch explained. “We did 8 takes, 4 connected nan first day, 4 connected nan 2nd day, and they chose nan very past 1 … I had a really agelong clip pinch it, and it was nan backbone of my full character. That was my backstory; I didn’t person to constitute one. They wrote it for me.”