“Monsters” star Nicholas Chavez responds to Erik Menendez' criticism of the show

Erik Menéndez is unhappy with a new Netflix show about him and his brother, and one of the series' stars is speaking out.

Nicholas Alexander Chavez, who plays Lyle Menéndez in Ryan Murphy's Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” spoke to USA TODAY on Monday after Erik Menéndez wrote a statement harshly criticizing the series. At the premiere of Murphy's latest series, “Grotesquerie,” the 25-year-old actor responded with an expression of compassion.

“I can only respond with sympathy and empathy because I can only imagine how difficult it is to see the most traumatic moment of your life on the screen where everyone can see it,” he told USA TODAY.

In 1996, Lyle and Erik Menéndez were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of their parents. The brothers claimed that their father, José Menéndez, had physically, sexually and emotionally abused them for years before the murders.

The Netflix series “Monsters” dramatizes their story in nine episodes and features Cooper Koch as Erik Menéndez and Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny as Lyle and Erik's parents José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez. The series is a sequel to “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” starring Evan Peters.

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