Following his breakout role as Erik Menéndez in Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story—which earned him his first Golden Globe nomination—Cooper Koch is setting his sights on his next big project.
In a recent VMan magazine cover story, the rising Hollywood star revealed his “fantasy list” of literary works he’d love to bring to the screen.
“Yes: Giovanni’s Room, All Fours, and A Little Life,” Koch said. “Those are the top three. I don’t want it to sound like I’m conceited, like I can do whatever I want. It’s more like… I just want to do things that I feel have meaning and purpose that I’m passionate about.”
Koch’s Dream Adaptations: A Trio of Queer Stories
All three books Koch named feature strong LGBTQ+ themes, making them powerful and thought-provoking choices for adaptation.
📖 Giovanni’s Room (1956) – Written by legendary author James Baldwin, this novel follows an American living in Paris who falls in love with an Italian bartender, Giovanni, while struggling with his sexual identity. The book remains a cornerstone of queer literature.
📖 All Fours (2024) – The latest novel from Miranda July, All Fours tells the story of a middle-aged woman experiencing a sexual awakening. Though not explicitly a queer novel, its themes of self-discovery and fluidity align with Koch’s artistic sensibilities.
📖 A Little Life (2015) – Considered a modern queer classic, Hanya Yanagihara’s acclaimed novel follows four college friends navigating life in New York City. The story delves into themes of trauma, love, and resilience, with one character’s harrowing experiences of sexual abuse at its core. In 2025, an audiobook version narrated by Matt Bomer was released.
Continuing His Support for the Menéndez Brothers
Beyond his aspirations in film, Koch remains vocal in his support for the Menéndez brothers and their bid for freedom.
“Erik teaches speech classes, yoga, and meditation, and they help people who have been through sexual abuse. They’ve gotten college degrees,” Koch shared. “They’ve found a life in prison because they’ve accepted what happened to them, and they accepted what they did. That takes such courage and bravery and strength and time. I think for that reason, they deserve to come home.”
As Koch’s career continues to rise, his passion for meaningful storytelling and advocacy for justice makes him one of Hollywood’s most intriguing young actors to watch.
