Erik Menendez met Ryan Murphy actor Cooper Koch during a prison visit

The actor who portrays Erik Menendez in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series, Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez said he had a “powerful” and “emotional” personal prison visit despite the convicted murder brothers’ criticism of the show.

Cooper Koch, who plays the younger Menendez brother, said Hollywood Reporter that he and Erik recognized each other almost immediately. “We walked into the gym and the first person I saw was Erik. And we looked at each other and he smiled and I smiled and we hugged,” he said.

Both brothers, according to the actor, “were so nice and so normal,” adding later: “They are both incredible people.”

Koch’s visit was reportedly arranged by Kim Kardashian, who is now an advocate for prison reform. The reality TV star invited him and others to the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility to meet with the Menendez brothers, who have been working on a 1,000-foot-long mural project at the detention center.

According to Koch, Erik praised the actor’s performance in the series despite never having seen it and spoke about the alleged sexual abuse the Menendez brothers suffered at the hands of their father. “I talked to him about it, which was crazy for me,” the actor continued.

The two also reportedly discussed backlash over creative decisions in the show and script. The weekend after the debut of MonsterIn a statement, Erik called the portrayal of him and his brother “naive and inaccurate to the facts of our lives, so this is done without any ill intent.”

The brothers’ extended family also criticized Murphy and Netflix for spreading “complete untruths” and said they had become “victims of this grotesque shock drama.”

Murphy, the show’s creator, dismissed the Menendez family’s reaction as “predictable at best” and claimed his show was the “best thing to happen to the Menendez brothers in 30 years.”

However, when speaking to Erik about the statement, Koch said he understood his concerns. “I feel for him. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have the worst parts of your life portrayed on television in this fictional, dramatized way, you know, and so I just told him that I was on his side. “I understand how that must feel and that it’s really difficult,” the actor explained.