How the cast of Netflix's 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story' compare to the real-life people they play
Eammon Jacobs
- "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" is based on true story.
- The show explores the lives of the Menéndez brothers, who murdered their parents.
"Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" is the latest dramatization of a notorious, headline-grabbing crime by producer Ryan Murphy.
The limited series is a follow-up to 2023's "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story," which starred Evan Peters.
The show, which landed on Netflix on Thursday, tells the story of Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik Menéndez (Cooper Koch), who murdered their parents, José Menéndez (Javier Bardem) and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menéndez, in 1989.
The brothers were accused of killing their parents to get their inheritance, but they argued it was in response to being sexually abused by their father.
Here's how the cast of "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" compares to the real-life people they play.
Nicholas Alexander Chavez plays Lyle Menéndez.
Nicholas Alexander Chavez plays Lyle. He previously played Spencer Cassadine in ABC's "General Hospital" from 2021 to 2024.
He'll next be seen in Murphy's upcoming horror series, "Grotesquerie," alongside Travis Kelce.
Cooper Koch plays Erik Menéndez.
Cooper Koch plays Erik. He recently starred in 2022's "They/Them," a slasher movie starring Kevin Bacon set at a conversion therapy camp.
He also appeared in "Swallowed," a body horror about an aspiring gay porn star who gets involved with a drug smuggling operation involving venomous bugs.
Javier Bardem plays José Menéndez
Oscar-winner Javier Bardem plays José, who the brothers accused of sexual assault during their trial.
Bardem is a Hollywood icon, and won the best supporting actor Oscar in 2007 for his intense role as hitman Anton Chigurh in "No Country for Old Men."
He also played James Bond villain Raoul Silver in "Skyfall," Him in "Mother!," and Stilgar in "Dune: Part One" and "Dune: Part Two."
Chloe Sevigny plays Mary Louise "Kitty" Menéndez
Fashion icon and actor Chloë Sevigny plays "Kitty."
Kitty experienced substance abuse and mental illness, and was accused of enabling her husband's abuse of their children.
Sevigny previously worked with Murphy on "American Horror Story: Asylum" in 2012 and "American Horror Story: Hotel" in 2015. She also worked with him on 2024's "Feud: Capote vs The Swans."
Leslie Grossman plays Judalon Smyth
Murphy also recruited another regular "American Horror Story" star, Leslie Grossman, to play Judalon Smyth.
Smyth became involved in the Menéndez case because she was in a relationship with their psychiatrist, Dr. Jerome Oziel. After they couple broke up, she told the police that she heard the brothers describe shooting their mother's eyeball during the murder.
Grossman starred in "American Horror Story: Cult," "Apocalypse," "1984," "Double Feature," "NYC," and "Delicate."
Dallas Roberts as Dr. Jerome Oziel.
Dr. Jerome Oziel was a key part of the Menéndez brothers' trial, as he testified against them and told jurors that Erik initially confessed to him that they murdered their parents.
Dallas Roberts plays Oziel in the series. He was recently played Devon in "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," the husband of Kathryn Hahn's character, Claire.
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