The Stunning Transformation Of Cooper Koch

The following article contains references to child sexual abuse. 

Since the September 2024 release of Netflix's "Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story," actor Cooper Koch has been everywhere. From talk show appearances to fan-made TikTok edits, Koch has been winning viewers over with his sweet demeanor and classic good looks. He has even been referred to as "the internet's babygirl," which Koch has taken in stride, telling ET, "So excited, I love it." But Cooper Koch is so much more than just a pretty face. His road to fame was rocky as he endured rejection, criticism, and acting dry spells before landing his starring role in "Monsters."

While Koch was born into a showbiz family, he carved out a place for himself in the industry all on his own. From high school plays to the big screen to a hit TV series, Koch's Hollywood trajectory has been interesting, to say the least. Koch has also used his visibility to speak on issues that are important to him. He has been vocal about his own difficulties being pigeonholed as a queer actor, and has made a point to show support for the real-life Menendez brothers, advocating for them to get a new and fair trial. Handsome and compassionate — no wonder he's netizens' babygirl.

Cooper Koch was born on July 16, 1996, in Woodland Hills, California. His great-grandfather was a film producer, as is his grandfather Hawk Koch, who is also the former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts. Cooper's father, Billy Koch, worked in visual effects on films like "Jerry Maguire." Despite this impressive Hollywood lineage, Cooper got his start not in film but on the stage. "My mom was the one who put me and my brothers in theater when we were like four or five years old," the actor told Harper's Bazaar.

This nearly jumpstarted his career as a child actor. "My brother and I had a manager for a second, and we went on auditions for commercials and some film and TV, but we had to keep getting pulled out of school," Cooper told Vanity Fair. Instead of pursuing Hollywood stardom, he stayed true to his love of theater and performed in musicals like "Into the Woods" and "West Side Story." He set his sights on Broadway but was derailed when it came time to apply for college. "I auditioned for all the musical theater schools," he told the publication. He continued, admitting, "I didn't get into one school for musical theater." 

Koch ended up attending Pace University and graduated with a Bachelor's in acting. "I absolutely loved it," he shared. "It just really taught me how to be myself."

While it may seem as though Cooper Koch was an overnight success, his road to stardom contained a few big obstacles. In addition to feeling the sting of rejection when auditioning for theater schools, Koch was told by a female acting teacher that he'd have a hard time getting booked for roles. The reason? His voice supposedly sounded too "gay." As Koch explained during an appearance on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," "I was so stunned by it at the time. ... It was before the class even started." The experience was even more uncomfortable because the teacher then went on to tell the whole class about the conversation. "So, then all the students are like looking at me like, 'Oh my god,'" Koch said. The actor seemed to have a good sense of humor about it, however, adding, "I can flip it on and off," demonstrating by turning to fellow guest, Billie Eilish's brother Finneas, and saying, "What's good, bro, how are you?" in a deeper register.

Koch may be able to laugh it off now, but the experience taught him a lesson in how to advocate for himself. He told Edge in a 2023 interview, "If you're gonna have that kind of opinion or you're not gonna wanna work with me because my voice sounds a certain way or because I walk or talk or move my hands in a certain way, then I don't wanna work with you either, babe."

As a child, Cooper Koch appeared in the 2007 crime thriller "Fracture" with Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins. It was a small part, and his acting career was mostly confined to the stage for many years after that. It wasn't until 2022 that Koch made a splash on the big screen again, starring in two horror films with queer themes, "They/Them" about teens at an LGBTQ+ conversion camp, and "Swallowed" about two friends experiencing a hellish night.

Koch was happy to dig into his role in "Swallowed," explaining to Edge, "Carter [Smith, the film's director] just threw me a big juicy bone to chew on and eat and devour. I'm so grateful to him that he gave me that opportunity." But while the actor shined in the film, which garnered positive reviews from both critics and audiences, he is not actually a fan of the horror genre.

"I don't really love horror. I don't like watching horror," he told Harper's Bazaar. "I mean, being in it is fun because it's exhilarating and you're put into situations that you maybe never would be as a human ... but I'm not a huge horror fan. They just happened to be the [projects] that I got cast in." He also expressed that his star turn in "Monsters" would hopefully allow him to have more choice in future roles — outside of the horror realm, of course.

Cooper Koch experienced a lull in his acting career before getting cast in "Monsters." As he told Edge, he became a yoga teacher and even got a job serving ice cream, but his natural good looks also allowed him to make a living as a model for brands such as Patagonia and Gap. "I make a lot of money modeling so that I have more time to audition to potentially go and do a role or whatever," he shared with the publication in 2023.

Koch's modeling experience was also valuable as it seemed to help him stay true to character when portraying Erik Menendez. Menendez wanted to become a model himself and posed for a photo shoot that made its way into "Monsters." Koch told GQ, "I had pictures of Erik doing the actual photo shoot, so I did try to look at those to sort of emulate how I was gonna pose. We wanted it to start out as Erik being a little bit more timid [in front] of the camera, not knowing where to put his hands or how to pose or what to do, and then as the photo shoot went on, we wanted him to grow in comfortability."

Cooper Koch is a true professional, which means he is not fazed when asked to do a nude scene for a role. In 2022's "Swallowed," Koch had a full-frontal scene, and he showed it all again in "Monsters." When Koch mentioned on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" that no prosthetics were used in his naked shower scene in "Monsters," (playfully adding that he's "well hung"), it caused quite a stir among media outlets (via Yahoo).

"It is kind of shocking," Koch told the hosts of SiriusXM's "The Jess Cagle Show" when asked if he was surprised by all the fanfare. "I was comfortable doing it, and ... we all have bodies and body parts, and it's sort of, like, normal for me," the actor continued.

Even though Koch seems at ease being naked onscreen, that doesn't mean those nude scenes are always a good time. The actor admitted on "Watch What Happens Live," "It's not scary, I would say it's just more uncomfortable at first and it's very cold, especially in the shower."

While Cooper Koch has acted in small theater productions and films, his breakout role came in the 2024 Netflix series "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story," helmed by Ryan Murphy. Koch played Erik Menendez who, along with his brother, Lyle, was convicted of killing their parents in 1989. The Menendez brothers asserted throughout their trial that they had been physically and sexually abused by their father, which motivated them to commit the crime. Koch was compassionate in his approach to the role, wanting to be respectful of the man he was portraying. "I always wanted to honor his truth and honor his authenticity," he shared with GQ.

That authenticity was on display in the series' fifth episode, which featured Koch as Erik Menendez describing in painful detail the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. Koch flexed his acting chops in the episode titled "The Hurt Man," which was shot in one continuous 33-minute take. Viewers were moved and impressed, suggesting that Koch deserves an Emmy nod for his performance. And the production had quite an impact on the actor himself. "It was an amazing experience that I will treasure and never forget for the rest of my life — probably the most incredible acting experience I've ever had up until this point," he shared with Harpers Bazaar.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Cooper Koch's stellar performance was not the only thing that had people talking about "Monsters." The series was bound to be somewhat controversial due to its subject matter, and series creator Ryan Murphy added fuel to the fire by announcing to Variety he had not consulted with the Menendez brothers while telling their story — nor did he have any desire to speak with them at all. Koch, on the other hand, not only met with Erik and Lyle in prison, he has since become a vocal advocate for the brothers.

Erik and Lyle Menendez are currently serving life sentences after being found guilty of first-degree murder in 1996, but many people, including Koch, believe they deserve a second chance. "They committed the crime when they were 18 and 21 years old, and at the time, it was really hard for people to believe that male-on-male sexual abuse could occur, especially with father and son," Koch told Variety. "But now, after 35 years, we have so much more evidence of child sexual abuse and male-on-male sexual abuse that I think they do deserve to be retried."

Meeting the brothers in person clearly had an emotional impact on Koch as well, and he had nothing but praise for them. "[Erik] was so kind. Lyle, too, I got to hug both of them and just be in their presence," Koch said. "They're such upstanding individuals. They've done so much work in their prison. ... It was just amazing."

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

While filming "Monsters," Cooper Koch struck up a friendship with his co-star Chloë Sevigny who played his mother, Kitty Menendez, on the show. In fact, it was Koch who encouraged Sevigny to make her iconic appearance in Charli XCX's "360" video. "I was like, 'Who is this Charli XCX?'" Sevigny revealed on "The Tonight Show." "I was in L.A. shooting 'Menendez' and ... Cooper Koch was like, 'You have to do it, you have to do it," she added. Cut to September of 2024 when Sevigny and Koch were spotted together at Charli XCX's Madison Square Garden show. Sevigny even posted a cute pic of herself and Koch in an Instagram Story.

In addition to Koch and Sevigny's Brat Summer friendship, it sounds as though the cast of "Monsters" were all very supportive of one another. Sevigny noted that Javier Bardem, who played the boys' father, Jose Menendez, was especially encouraging towards Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez, who starred as Lyle. "He was so loving to the boys," Sevigny revealed. "I was so impressed by how he was, like, buoying them and lifting them up and giving them confidence to just carry the show."

Much to the dismay of his many lovestruck fans, Cooper Koch does, in fact, have a partner. On top of that, many eagle-eyed fans have noticed that Koch wears a gold band on his left finger, leaving them wondering if the actor is actually married. Koch cleared up the confusion during a visit to "Andy Cohen Live" on SiriusXM.

Apparently, it began when Koch was accessorizing his look before attending the Emmys with his twin brother, Payton. "I was with my boyfriend and we went into my room and I was looking through my jewelry, and I had this ring that was my grandfather's," the actor explained. "... and then we just like put it on my ring finger and it just kind of became this little like, I don't know, romantic, protective mechanism." Aside from being symbolic, the ring also served as a way to "trip people out a little," Koch said.

So, does his boyfriend wear a wedding band as well? "We have talked about that, and we do need to get him a ring, but it's really more of just like a nice totem," Koch said.

Cooper Koch has made such an impression on critics and fans alike since starring in "Monsters" that his future seems stunningly bright. In terms of what kinds of projects he'd like to work on next, Koch has a lot of ideas. He definitely wants to work with directors he admires, including Pedro Almodóvar and Sean Baker. "I have a big list of people but those two are probably at the top," Koch told Harper's Bazaar.

He would also like to develop his own projects, involving adaptations of some of his favorite books. On his list are the classic novel "Giovanni's Room," by James Baldwin, along with modern works such as Miranda July's "All Fours," Bret Easton Ellis's "The Shards," and Hanya Yanagihara's "A Little Life." Regarding the latter, Koch told Harper's, "That's at the top of my list. I would really like to get that made... so I need to go to a good studio that's gonna trust her and me and would be able to make it happen." It's safe to say that whatever Koch ends up doing next, his many new fans will be watching.