The Big Picture

Nathan Lane and Ari Graynor shine as adversaries Dominick Dunne and Leslie Abramson in
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

Graynor breaks down the challenges and gifts of shooting Episode 5.
Lane reveals what it was like to film the pivotal scene where he opens up about his daughter.

Nathan Lane has had an impressive career both onstage and on the screen, and these past few years have been especially great for him in terms of television, with the actor appearing on critically acclaimed shows like Only Murders in the Building and The Gilded Age. While Ari Graynor is slightly newer to the game, her resume is stacked in its own right, with credits like Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Whip It, and The Disaster Artist.

The two make for delicious enemies in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, which centers on the high-profile 1989 murders of José (Javier Bardem) and Kitty Menendez (Chloë Sevigny) by their sons, Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik (Cooper Koch), with the two alleging years of sexual abuse. Lane takes on the role of Dominick Dunne, a Vanity Fair writer who covered the murder trial extensively and is skeptical of the boys’ story. Graynor plays Erik’s relentless but compassionate lawyer Leslie Abramson. The two’s equally strong and vastly different opinions on the matter lead them to butt heads, and seeing Lane and Graynor play off each other in this way is endlessly entertaining.

Collider got the chance to speak with Lane and Graynor about their characters and some of their most intense scenes, including the breathtaking Episode 5 (the entirety of which is one long take of Graynor and Koch in an interrogation room) and Lane’s heartbreaking conversation about his daughter with a cater waiter.

Ari Graynor Talks Shooting Episode 5 of ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’
Image via Netflix

COLLIDER: I want to start in the middle with Episode 5 because it’s one of the most harrowing but well-executed episodes of television I’ve seen in a long time. Ari, you managed to give such an amazing performance where we don’t even see your face for most of it. I’m curious how you prepared both for that challenge and also for being a good scene partner for Cooper Koch because he has a lot of the heavy monologuing in that.

ARI GRAYNOR: Well, thank you. You know, I come from the theater.

NATHAN LANE: Oh, brother.

GRAYNOR: [Laughs] Like my pal Nathan Lane over here.

LANE: She comes from the theater.

GRAYNOR: That’s right — you heard it. No, but I’ve grown up doing theater, and part of that — when you do theater — is that, unlike film, you’re not paying attention to who’s talking, who’s not. When you’re on stage, you’re on stage, and you’re in a reality, and you’re living that fully, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re talking or not or, in this case, on screen or not. So to me, my work or what I was doing in that scene, whether the camera was on or off my face, it was all the same difference to me.

And it was an extraordinary gift. It was an extraordinary gift of writing — an incredible creative gift. And also, I think Cooper and I both felt together that hopefully it was something that we could maybe put in the world that offered something that other people needed to hear, needed to see, and needed to be held by. So we did take that pretty seriously.

I read it and then put it away for a few months because it was almost too much to hold, and I wanted to really know who Leslie was so that I could drive that scene in the way that she would. And the way that I listen is different from the way that Leslie listens. I learned so much about listening and empathy doing that that I’ve really taken in in my own life because it comes out differently between me and her.

And then what Cooper did was absolutely extraordinary. We had become incredibly close, and we were so connected going into it. I felt like both for me with Cooper and Leslie with Erik, it was, “How do I hold this space for him and give him every molecule of attention and care I have in this way?” We shot it eight times over two days, four times a day. Then he came over to my house and sat on the porch after, and we talked and cried and laughed and drank wine and had sushi and smoked cigarettes and did all of the things.

Nathan Lane on His Emotional Tiramisu Scene in ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’
Image via Netflix

Yeah, I think that chemistry and that care really shines through. Speaking of these powerful scenes, for you, Nathan, I feel like Dominick’s conversation over the tiramisu is so moving and feels so pivotal for his character. I’m curious what it was like getting to shoot that scene because it feels very cathartic in a way while also being very sad, of course.

LANE: Yes, yes — you’re right. I loved that scene. It was one of those scenes where you have this conversation, and then the person leaves, and then you have to break down sobbing. There was a young actor playing the cater waiter — he was very nervous. I remember we rehearsed it, and he was talking very fast, and I couldn’t quite understand him. He sat down next to me when they were starting to light it, and I said, “Can I give you a little advice from an old actor?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “If you can, try to relax. Because this isn’t my scene — it’s our scene. Take your time, and let us see you make the decision to stay in the room with him and ask him about his daughter and make that decision. Don’t worry about getting the lines out — just take your time.”

Fortunately, the coverage was on me first, so we did my stuff, and he got to, in a sense, rehearse that way. By the time they turned the camera around on him, he had relaxed, and he gave a beautiful performance. Look, I don’t get the opportunity very often on film to do this kind of work. I do in the theater but not so often in film, so this was just an incredible gift from Ryan Murphy to me. I’ll always be grateful for that.

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is available to stream on Netflix.

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