Who Plays Erik Menendez In Monsters? Cooper Koch's Age, Height And Previous Roles

28 September 2024, 15:53

Cooper Koch (left) stars alongside Nicholas Alexander Chavez in Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story. Picture: Getty

By Katie Louise Smith

Cooper Koch plays Erik Menendez in Netflix's Monsters series. Get to know the actor here.

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Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story has finally landed on Netflix and viewers are already hooked on Ryan Murphy's latest true crime dramatisation. But who plays Erik Menendez in the new series?

The follow up to the massively successful Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story follows brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez who murdered their own parents, José and Kitty Menenderz. The brothers were both given life sentences without the possibility of parole, but have maintained that they acted in self-defence, and said that they were abused by their parents.

Cooper Koch plays Erik Menendez, the youngest brother, opposite Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle. Here's everything you need to know about the rising star.

Read more: Did Lyle Menendez Wear A Wig? The True Story Behind His Hair Explained

Cooper Koch plays Erik Menendez in Netflix's Monsters series. Picture: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic), Netflix

How old is Cooper Koch?

Cooper Koch is 28 years old, and was born on July 16th, 1996.

Despite playing the younger Menendez sibling, Cooper is actually 3 years older than Nicholas Alexander Chavez. He's also 10 years older than Erik Menendez, who was just 18 years old at the time of the murders.

How tall is Cooper Koch?

According to his Wilhelmina modelling profile, Cooper is 6ft 1 inches tall. He's pretty much the same height as Nicholas, and the duo are roughly the same height at the Menendez brothers who both stood around 6ft tall.

Where is Cooper Koch from?

Cooper is an American actor who was born in Calabasas, California.

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Who is Cooper Koch's brother Payton Koch?

Cooper might be a star in front of the camera, but his brother Payton worked behind the camera and has been nominated for an Emmy. Payton has worked on several Ryan Murphy shows including American Horror Story and Ratched in the editorial department.

He picked up an Emmy nod in the Outstanding Picture Editing For A Single-Camera Comedy Series for his work on Only Murders In The Building.

Payton shared a sweet Instagram post congratulating Cooper on the release of Monsters.

What other TV shows and movies has Cooper Koch been in?

Cooper has a handful of credits to his name but Monsters is his first big leading role in a major TV series. Previously, you may have seen Cooper in A New York Christmas Wedding, the 2022 slasher film They/Them or 2022's body horror Swallowed.

With those horror roles under his belt, could he one day join the American Horror Story universe? Something tells us this isn't the last we've seen of Cooper in the Ryan Murphy cinematic universe.

Cooper Koch plays Erik Menendez in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Picture: Netflix

Cooper Koch plays Erik Menendez in Netflix's Monsters series

Cooper plays the youngest Menendez brother, Erik, in Ryan Murphy's second instalment of the Monster series.

Cooper was cast alongside Nicholas Alexander Chavez (who plays Lyle) back in June 2023. But before they could even get stuck into the series, both the writers and the actors guilds went on strike. The cameras eventually started rolling in early 2024.

Monsters follows the two brothers who killed their parents back in 1989 and the events surrounding the murders. Both brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Cooper told ET that he hopes the series leads to conversations about abuse and mental health.