Ryan Murphy Menendez brothers' show minimizes courtroom, detective actor says

LOS ANGELES, April 17 (UPI) -- Jason Butler Harner, who plays Beverly Hills police detective Les Zoeller in Ryan Murphy's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, said the show in production for Netflix focuses on the investigation rather than much of the trial.

Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder of their wealthy Beverly Hills parents, Jose and Kitty. They were shot to death.

"As I understand it, they are trying to avoid as much court time as possible because it feels like it's been done," Harner told UPI in a Zoom interview in which he also discussed his new movie, The Big Bend.

"But, you have to have [court scenes], especially for the iconic sweaters and for [defense attorney] Leslie Abramson," he said.

In addition to media coverage and the documentaries about the trial, the case also was highlighted on Law & Order: True Crime.

In the new series, Ari Graynor plays Abramson. Nicholas Alexander Chavez plays Lyle and Cooper Koch plays Eric. Javier Bardem plays Jose and Chloe Sevigny plays Kitty.

Harner said the show includes the crime scene, adding, "It's mostly detective work when we arrive -- the arrests, investigating the scene where we have Javier and Chloe all shot up," Harner said.

Harner said he enjoys researching characters, and for Zoeller, he interviewed people who knew the detective, who died in 2021, and who were at the scene on Aug. 20, 1989.

"Listen, I'm happy he was a great detective," Harner said. "He was a competent, really good, kept it close to the vest, really did diligent police work and also had to deal with some areas where the LAPD [expletive] the bed."

UPI will present an interview with Harner about The Big Bend next week.