Monsters’ breakout gay star Cooper Koch has a gay twin brother

Cooper Koch, the breakout gay star of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, has a twin brother – and he is also gay.

Cooper shot to fame playing Erik Menendez in Ryan Murphy’s Monsters, which focuses on two brothers who were sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1989 murder of their parents in California.

But what do we know about his fraternal twin, Payton?

Who is Cooper Koch’s twin brother Payton?

Born to horse-racing magnate Billy Koch and author Kathy Kaehler, the twins are now 28. They have another brother, Walker.

What does Payton do?

While Cooper is known for his on-screen roles, Payton works on the other side of the camera as a picture editor with a range of post-production credits.

These include two Ryan Murphy projects, American Horror Story and Ratched. He has also worked on the Selena Gomez comedy-mystery series Only Murders in the Building, for which he was Emmy-nominated earlier this year.

How close are Payton and Cooper?

The brothers frequently appear on each other’s Instagram accounts and other social media, with Payton sharing a picture of the pair in 2023 with the caption: “Happy Pride from your favourite gay twins”.

Payton spoke out when Monsters faced controversy when the real-life Erik Menendez labelled the series  “naive and inaccurate” and viewers accused Murphy of creating what they called incestuous fetish porn.

“I won’t speak for Cooper but I will say that he cares immensely for the [Menendez] boys and stands with them and all victims of abuse,” Payton said.

“He did everything he could to ensure their stories of abuse were seen on screen and I think in episode five, it is abundantly clear where he stands.

[Actors are] only vessels for the writers/producers of the show. Any true story portrayal is going to be tough, but trust me when I say he does care about them and their story.”

The Menendez brothers are currently serving life in prison without the possibility of parole, but the Los Angeles County district attorney has formally recommended their re-sentencing, arguing for a lesser sentence for the pair in the light on new evidence about their father’s abusive behaviour – which they brought of as evidence at their trials between 1993 and 1996.

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