Cooper Koch is having a very good Monday.
The Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez star, 28, woke up on December 9 to hear his name named among a host of mega-stars, including Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor, as he earned his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture made for television.
Calling today the “best Monday ever,” Koch tells PEOPLE, “I still can’t believe this is happening — that it happened. It’s really, really, really, really crazy. I’m so grateful and honored to be recognized among these people . that’s crazy.”
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“I was in my bed and I couldn’t sleep. I thought I’d sleep through it and then I just wake up and look at my phone and see what happened,” he says of how his morning went before he heard his name hosts Mindy Kaling and Morris Chestnut. “But then I woke up around 4:45, and then my partner and I put it on YouTube and we started watching, and then we heard our name and screamed and hugged and went crazy.”
Koch admits he “knew there was a small chance it would happen, but I was also prepared for it not to happen,” which contributed to the toss and spin. “I was just anxious.”
Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez, Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez, Ari Graynor as Leslie Abramson in ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’.
Miles Crist/Netflix
Koch’s first call was to his team, he says, and some of the first people to congratulate him were Ryan Murphy and his co-stars Ari Graynor and Javier Bardem, who played his father Jose Menendez on the show and also earned a supporting actor nomination for role.
“He’s super excited,” Koch says of Bardem, 55, before sharing what his co-star sent him. “He said, ‘Well done, my dear’.”
Fellow nominee Colman Domingo was also in touch “very quickly, which was very sweet,” says the actor. “He said, ‘Congratulations,’ and then I had to congratulate him.”
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Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez in ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’.
Miles Crist/Netflix
Koch admits that the “imposter syndrome is so real” right now as the news comes in and reflects on the absolute whirlwind of the past year — from being thrown into Monstersits recording and its extremely successful release in September.
“It’s so crazy to me. Two years ago I was teaching yoga and making ice cream and doing e-commerce modeling jobs, and now I’ve made a big TV show and got a Golden Globe nomination,” he reflects.
“My life has changed so much in the past two years and it’s so crazy to think about it. But my younger self would be so overwhelmed with joy and so proud and happy.”
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Cooper Koch arrives at the premiere of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” in LA on September 16, 2024.
Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock (
Koch will celebrate a little today, but it’s mostly “business as usual.”
“I go to breakfast with my partner, Stu, my brothers, Payton and Walker, and my manager, Jason. We go to breakfast, we go to a diner. Then I have a day of meetings.”
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As he looks ahead to the Jan. 5 awards show, the LA native says he has “such a big smile on his face right now imagining it.”
“I’ve always loved watching the Golden Globes. They’re so funny, they’re so fun. And Nikki Glaser is hilarious,” he says, referring to the host of this year’s ceremony. “It will be a trip to be there.”
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Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez can be streamed in its entirety on Netflix, and the Golden Globes will air live on Sunday, January 5 at 8:00 PM ET on CBS and televised on Paramount+.
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Source: HIS Education