If you enjoy dramatised true crime set in an affluent suburban landscape then you are in luck – Ryan Murphy is back with a new biographical crime series. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menedez Story which delves into the murders that shocked America in the Eighties.
Monsters follows the success of the Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story which was a record-breaking success on Netflix, hitting 1 billion view hours in its first 60 days.
This series follows the story of two brothers who killed their parents in 1989, and it has a cast with established stars and up-and-coming names...
Erik Menedez, played by Cooper Koch
At 18, Erik Menedez was a competitive tennis player and the younger son of the Menedez family. In August 1989, he and his brother shot their parents José and Kitty in a shocking crime that dominated the news in America.
The 28-year-old Cooper Koch . Coming from a Hollywood heritage (his grandfather was the producer Hawk Koch and great-grandfather the filmmaker Howard W Koch) Cooper Koch has credits including 2022 body horror Swallowed and slasher They/Them.
Lyle Menedez, played by Nicholas Alexander Chavez
Joseph ‘Lyle’ Menedez is the oldest of the two brothers. He attended Princeton before being removed from the university for plagiarism. He was also involved in the shooting alongside his younger brother Erik.
At just 25, Nicholas Alexander Chavez had a recurring role in General Hospital, winning an award for it in 2022. A rising star, he will be playing Father Charlie in another Ryan Murphy show Grotesquerie which comes out in October this year.
José Menedez, played by Javier Bardem
José Menendez – Erik and Lyle’s father – was a music industry executive. A Cuba native, he came to live with a relative in the US as a teenager. He ended up marrying Kitty after meeting her at university. He was shot by his sons on 20th August, 1989. In the process of the trial Erik and Lyle accused their father of sexually abusing them.
A film and TV star, Bardem hardly needs an introduction. Son of Spanish actress Pilar Bardem he became known for his roles in a series of Spanish films in the mid-Nineties and early noughties.
He first gained international recognition in Julian Schnabel’s Before Night Falls (2000) for which he received one of his four nominations for the Academy Awards for Best Actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Anton Chiguhh in the Cohen Brothers’ western No Country for Old Men (2007). More recently he has had supporting roles in films such as Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024), the sci-fi epics directed by Denis Villeneuve.
Mary Louise “Kitty” Menedez, played by Chloë Sevigny
Kitty met José in a philosophy class at Southern Illinois University and thepair got married in 1963. As the matriarch of the family, according to Today she “attended every tennis and soccer match” that the boys played in. Due to the hours and travel required for José’s work she is said to have raised the children in Princeton, New Jersey on a big estate before they moved to California in 1986. She was shot by her sons on 20th August, 1989.
Chloë Sevigny may not be an A-lister but she is independent film royalty. Her breakout came in the controversial film Kids (1995) and she later went on to appear in American Psycho.
In 2010 she won Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes for her portrayal of Nicolette Grant on the HBO series Big Love. Her third directorial piece, a short film titled White Echo, competed for the Short Film Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival in 2019.
Vogue has described her as “the ultimate downtown It-girl.” This has been further cemented by her role in Charli XCX’s music video for her song 360. She is also the sister of artist Paul Sevigny and credits their parents for cultivating their sense of creativity.
Dominick Dunne, played by Nathan Lane
Dominick Dunne is most famous for his work as an investigative journalist but alongside this he worked as a writer and producer, in fact, he started his career in film and tv before later moving to writing. He covered the trial of the brothers for Vanity Fair.
Nathan Lane is a stage and screen star, described by the New York Times in 2010 as “the greatest stage entertainer of the decade.” Lane has the awards to support this claim: he’s received three Tony Awards (and six nominations), an Olivier, seven Drama Desk Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
One of his Tonys was awarded for his role in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America (2018). He has furthermore gained a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor for his appearance in Only Murders in the Building (2022).
Leslie Abramson, played by Ari Graynor
Leslie Abramson was the lawyer who defended Lyle and Erik Menedez. As well as working with the Menedez brothers she has defended other clients accused of murder, only one of whom recieved the death penalty: Ricky Sanders.
Boston actress Ariel Graynoris broke through in The Sopranos (1999-2007) and has starred in TV shows including Bad Teacher and Fringe. In film she has starred in Whip It (2009) and For a Good Time, Call…(2012).
Dr Jerome Oziel, played by Dallas Roberts
Jerome Oziel was the psychologist that the Menedez brothers end up confessing to, which eventually led to their conviction. He vowed not to tell anyone but eventually told his mistress.
Dallas Roberts was born in Houston, Texas. His most famous role is as Milton Mamet in the third season of The Walking Dead (2012–2013). He has recently starred in the Netflix show Insatiable (2018-19).
Judalon Smyth, played by Leslie Grossman
Judalon Smyth was the girlfriend of a psychologist who Lyle and Erik Menendez had been talking to. She told police that Erik had confessed to the killings in therapy and that there would be a taped recording of it.
Leslie Grossman is perhaps best known for her collaborations with Monster creator Ryan Murphy. She has starred in several series of American Horror Story in varying roles. Grossman also had a recurring role in the TV reboot of 10 Things I Hate About You based on the cult classic Nineties film of the same name.
