Netflix's true-life series Monsters: The Lyle and Eric Menendez Story dramatizes the tragic story of the Menendez brothers, with rising actors Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch playing the main characters. Both give impressive performances as they portray the fictional lives of the convicted murderer brothers, with Koch in particular winning critical acclaim for his portrayal of the younger brother, Eric. Will he be the next award-winning actor from the Ryan Murphy-produced anthology?

28-year-old Cooper Koch was born and raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills. His first acting role on screen was as a child actor in the 2007 crime thriller Fracture, produced by his grandfather, Hawk Koch. Cooper went on to attend the Pace School of Performing Arts in New York City, graduating in May 2018.

Prior to Monsters, Cooper was best known for his supporting roles in projects such as the Starz series Power Book II: Ghosts, the 2020 film A New York Christmas Wedding, and the 2022 Peacock thriller They/Them. He was known for. He also co-starred with Jena Malone in the 2022 body horror film Swallowed.

According to his IMDb, Koch's family has a long history in Hollywood. His father, Billy Koch, has worked in visual effects on films such as Jerry Maguire, Space Jam, and Rugrats in Paris. His grandfather, Hawk Koch, is a prolific film producer and past president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild. Cooper's great-grandfather Howard W. Koch, on the other hand, was an Emmy-nominated producer and director of films such as “Airplane” and “The Manchurian Candidate,” and attended several Academy Awards ceremonies.

And Cooper is not the only contemporary to follow in the family's showbiz footsteps. His twin brother, Peyton Koch, is an Emmy-nominated editor of Only Murders in the Building, as well as several of the Ryan Murphy series (from The Politician to American Crime Story:. Impeachment). The twins have another brother, Walker Koch, who seems to be pursuing a career as a musician rather than a filmmaker.

Koch has been open about his sexuality throughout his career and has often been attracted to gay roles; when speaking to the San Francisco Bay Times about his 2022 film They/Them, he revealed that he accepted his gay identity at a young age He revealed.

“When I was in high school and freshman year of college, I didn't want to be who I was. And I had to go to acting school to realize that if I wanted to play other people, I needed to be myself.”

When asked about his role in the film, which has a mostly queer cast, Koch added, “I'm not a queer person. Having actual trans, non-binary, and queer people playing all the roles is the way it should be. We should tell more stories like this to build more awareness and represent our community."

However, Koch also recognizes that queer actors should not be framed in the entertainment industry by their sexuality: in an interview with the Edge Media Network in 2023, he said that acting teachers He recalled an incident in which an acting teacher implied that he had not been booked for a role because he had a “gay voice.

“I'm thick-skinned, and at this point in my life, I've experienced bullying as a kid, and I've been fired from pilots because of it,” he said at the time. 'But I can't forgive anymore. But I can't tolerate it anymore. And if you don't want to work with me because you have that opinion or because I have a particular voice or because of the way I walk or talk or move my hands, then I don't want to work with you either.

In an interview with TheWrap during the premiere of “Monsters,” Koch revealed that he took an immersive approach to putting himself in his brother Menendez's shoes.

“I turned my trailer into Eric's room, dressed him here and there, and hung pictures of him and myself on the walls. I listened to Eric's story and felt gratitude for his parents.” I listened to Eric's story and observed him piously. And to feel like him, to be like him, I listened to music, kept all sorts of journals, acquired all sorts of things.”

New fans of Koch since “Monsters” will notice that the rising star seems to keep his personal life private and does not have an active Instagram. However, he does occasionally appear on co-star Nicholas Chavez's feed and his brother Peyton Koch's posts. In honor of the release of Monsters, Payton shared a sweet tribute to his breakout twin. [Payton wrote, along with a behind-the-scenes photo of Cooper filming “Monsters,” “I have never been more proud of another human being. I love you and am so happy for you.”