Cooper Koch is sharing more about his prison meeting with Erik Menendez.
“Preparing to play him was, in a way, preparing to meet him at the same time,” the actor, 28, who played Erik in Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story told Deadline. “Because in preparing to play him, I developed such a care and true — I just care so much for him.”
He added, “I believe him, I think he’s an amazing human being. And so, after playing him, getting to meet him was so rewarding and special and one of the most amazing experiences I think I’ll ever have in my life.”
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Koch’s comments come after he revealed on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen earlier this month that meeting the Menendez brothers in real life was “not super intimidating.”
“I would say just like more nerve-wracking ‘cause I’ve known about them for so long and care so much about them,” he continued. “It was just like nervous but then when I got there it was all great.”
Koch paid the brothers a visit in prison alongside Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner, just days after Monsters premiered.
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Last month, Koch told PEOPLE he was “so nervous” ahead of the meeting in San Diego at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility.
“I had spoken to both of them, so I knew we already kind of had a camaraderie, and they knew where I stood. I told them I supported them and I believed them,” he said. “I had a feeling they were going to welcome me with open arms, but still so nerve-racking to meet someone who you’ve been listening to and are inspired by.”
Adding that there was “an immediate connection,” Koch continued, “I got to hug both of them, and I sat next to Erik in this circle with all the other incarcerated individuals who were telling their stories, and they were both so kind. They’re amazing people.”
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story tells the story of brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, who killed their parents José and Kitty Menéndez in 1989 and have been serving life sentences in prison since 1996.
While the prosecution argued that José and Kitty were killed due to the family’s fortune of more than $14 million, the Menendez brothers have maintained that they killed their parents after suffering from ongoing mental, physical and sexual abuse.
In 2005, Erik told PEOPLE, “I’m not saying what I did was right or justifiable. I needed to go to prison. But place another child in my life and see what happens.”
“I felt it was either my life or my parents’ life … Being arrested was such a relief. My life was over and I was glad. I didn’t want the money,” he added.
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