Just because Cooper Koch played convicted murderer Erik Menéndez doesn’t mean he is gunning to portray Luigi Mangione in an upcoming project.
Koch, 28, was asked about fans calling for him to star as Mangione, 26, who was charged for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“I think I have to take a departure from the crime scenes and do something else,” Koch told Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday, December 17. “But I did find that hilarious.”
The actor acknowledged the resemblance between him and Mangione, adding, “Sure. I can see it.”
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Two documentaries are already in the works after Mangione was named as the prime suspect in Thompson’s death earlier this month. A New York grand jury indicted Mangione on terrorism charges on Tuesday in addition to first-degree murder. He also faces charges for possessing weapons and forged instruments.
Mangione recently added prominent defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo to his legal team, but his attorneys haven’t yet addressed the development in his case.
Before being hired to represent Mangione, Agnifilo said in a TV interview, “It looks like to me there might be a ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’ defense that they’re going to be thinking about because the evidence is going to be so overwhelming that he did what he did.”
Attorney Thomas Dickey shared in a statement that Mangione is expected to plead not guilty.
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“I haven’t seen any evidence that he’s the shooter,” Dickey told reporters on December 10. “Remember, and this is not just a small thing: A fundamental concert of American justice is a presumption of innocence until you’re proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And I’ve seen zero evidence at this point.”
Koch’s hope to move away from true crime comes after he rose to stardom for playing Menéndez, 53, in Ryan Murphy‘s Monsters.
“The reason why he’s been with me for so long is because I auditioned to play him seven years ago for the Law & Order series and for the Lifetime movie,” Koch told GQ Australia in an interview published earlier this month, referring to 2017’s Law & Order True Crime and Menendez: Blood Brothers.
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Koch nearly landed the role both times. “I got to the final rounds in both and I ultimately didn’t get it. But I felt like I had to play this part,” he recalled. “I got the audition [for Monsters] and I watched the trial videos for the first time.”
While doing his research, Koch found himself supporting Erik and brother Lyle Menéndez. (The siblings, who were sentenced to life in prison for the 1989 murder of their parents, have claimed they killed their mother and father in self-defense following years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse.)
“I was so moved and I believed them immediately. It was then that I found all the similarities and I became quite obsessed with the case and with their story,” Koch continued. “I was taping and taping, auditioning and auditioning, for seven years. Then finally you get the one that is supposed to happen.”
