Monsters star Javier Bardem has admitted the reason why he was initially hesitant to accept the role of José Menendez in the hit true crime anthology.

The second instalment of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Monsters (previously titled Monster) series landed on Netflix earlier this month and has been a huge hit with viewers.

Depicting a dramatised version of the 1989 killings of José and Kitty Menendez at the hands of their sons Lyle and Erik, the show has since skyrocketed to the top of Netflix viewing charts.

The series doesn’t shy away from the more harrowing details of the case, with the mental, physical and sexual abuse José allegedly subjected his sons to played out in great detail on screen.

Various scenes from the show see José engaged in heated altercations with his sons, while Erik and Lyle’s trial testimonies of alleged sexual abuse were used almost word-by-word by actors Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez.

The dark nature of José depicted on-screen was something which Bardem said he thought ‘a lot about’ prior to taking the role.

“I thought about it a lot actually. It took me a while to say yes [to the role], because of the issue,” the actor, 55, told LADbible exclusively, when asked about how he prepared to play José.

However once he ‘committed’ to the role, Bardem added that he then focused on giving his best performance.

Javier Bardem played José Menendez in the Netflix series (Netflix)

“Once I was committed to do it, I didn’t think too much about it. I will just jump in, do the thing, and come out and don’t make a big thing about it. It was exactly what I need to portray,” he said.

“I portrayed it, and I step out of it because I didn’t want to stay in there [as José Menendez] for too long.”

Bardem also shared his thoughts on Erik Menendez’s criticisms of the series, admitting that he hadn’t ‘personally’ read the 53-year-old’s response.

“I know that everybody involved in this show, everyone involved, we really approached to it with a very with all of our care and attention and delicacy to really bring it on and be able to portray the story that we were trying to portray in the most delicate and fine way possible,” the No Country for Old Men star explained.

Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Chloë Sevigny, Javier Bardem and Cooper Koch as the Menendez family (Netflix)

Bardem’s co-star Chloë Sevigny also added that she understood it would be ‘difficult’ for the brothers to see themselves played in a dramatised fashion.

“I mean, I can imagine it would be very difficult to see someone playing, you know, portraying you know, your family or you, or anything like that,” she said.

“I think it’s amazing that Netflix is now going to release this documentary that lets them speak in their own words on the case.

“They will have a chance to express their feelings about what they did and their lives – and everybody will get to hear their side of the story from their mouths.”

Therapy is coined as a safe space where you can speak openly about your thoughts and feelings. But having watched Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, viewers have been left scratching their heads if there is an acceptation to the rule.

The Netflix docuseries tackles this question as it follows the complicated case of Lyle, 21, and Erik Menendez, 18, who fatally shot their mum and dad in their family home in Beverly Hills in August 1989.

The court case was televised around the world after the siblings listed years of sexual abuse as a reason for killing their parents.

Prosecutors, however, argued that their motive was money-related.

Now, if you’ve watched all of the episodes, or you’re aware of the case, you’ll know that the Menendez brothers’ therapist, recorded Erik’s confession to his parents’ murders.

Long story short, psychiatrist Dr Jerome Oziel broke patient privilege with regards to confidentiality, with Judalon Smyth, his mistress, tipping off the police about the confession tapes after they broke up.

Despite patient confidentiality rules, in 1992, the Supreme Court of California decided that two of the tapes could be used in the trial, due to the fact the brothers were accused of having threatened the therapist.

This meant there was an exception to the confidentiality rule that would have made the conversations between the brothers and the therapist privileged.

Lawyer Jin Lew explained to Newsweek: “If a psychiatrist receives information from a patient indicating they are about to commit a crime, there can be a reasonable argument that disclosure becomes necessary.

“When a serious crime has already been committed, there is not the same immediate urgency or need for action as there would be if someone were in imminent danger of being harmed.”

However, the British Psychological Society (BPS) states that ‘clients may disclose a crime in their past either as a victim or an offender’.

The Menendez brothers, Lyle and Erik. (Ted Soqui/Sygma via Getty Images)

But its guidelines note that ‘clients should be informed of the limits of confidentiality where information about them may be shared and confidentiality breached, for example for reasons of safeguarding, requirements of the law, and public protection’.

“If disclosure of information is deemed necessary, psychologists should obtain specific informed consent from their clients, making the consequences of disclosure as clear and unbiased as possible,” the BPS added.

“There are a number of circumstances where this might not be possible or may not apply: for example where the health, safety, security or welfare of the client or someone else may otherwise be put at risk; and if there are legal or safeguarding responsibilities, such as the need to avoid ‘tipping off’.”

In the new Netflix series, Cooper Koch takes on the role as Erik Menendez, while Nicholas Alexander Chavez plays Lyle.

Chloë Sevigny stars as their mother Kitty and Javier Bardem portrays their father José, a successful Hollywood executive.

Fans have been left divided after viewing a side-by-side comparison of Netflix’s Monsters and footage from Erik Menendez’s trial testimony.

Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s latest instalment of his anthology series Monsters (formerly Monster) has once again been a huge hit on the streaming platform.

Following its release last Thursday (19 September) the nine-episode series is currently topping the list of Netflix’s most popular shows at the moment and has brought the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez back into public discussion once again.

The series follows the high-profile story of the 1989 killing of José and Kitty Menéndez as well as their sons’ subsequent trials and later conviction in 1996.

Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Chloë Sevigny, Javier Bardem and Cooper Koch as the Menendez family (Netflix)

Erik and Lyle’s case was a hugely publicised one at the time, with the prosecution arguing that the boys had murdered their parents in cold-blooded greed while the defence stated they had acted in self-defence after suffering years of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of their father.

Both the brothers would later receive a life sentence for their actions, without the possibility of parole.

The series has since gone on to be the subject of a number of discussions online, with actors Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez receiving praise for their portrayal of the brothers as well as their resemblance to Erik and Lyle.

One particular moment which has been discussed extensively online is the decision to use the brothers’ testimonies verbatim in the series, with a number of side-by-side comparisons doing the rounds on social media in the following days.

In episodes eight and nine, the brothers take to the stand in an attempt to defend themselves, with a TikTok later comparing Koch’s performance with footage from the trial recorded by CourtTV.

The brothers during their trial (Ted Soqui/Sygma via Getty Images)

The clip shows Erik being interviewed by his defence attorney Leslie Abramson, who asks what was the originating cause of them deciding to shoot their parents.

In both Koch’s performance and Erik’s real testimony both men can be seen struggling to get their words out, eventually saying that it was Erik revealing the alleged abuse he’d suffered to Lyle which was a turning point for them.

Both clips are emotionally charged, however viewers have still been taken aback by how raw the real testimony was.

“This is a real testament to Cooper Koch’s performance. It’s insanely good,” one person wrote, while a second added: “Cooper is definitely winning an Emmy!”

However others wished the dramatisation had gone even further with their depiction of the trial, with a third person writing: “The real one is so much more emotional.”

This isn’t the first time Koch’s acting has been praised by viewers either, with fans saying the actor ‘deserves an award’ for his performance in episode five, ‘The Hurt Man’.

Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.

Erik Menendez once revealed during his testimony why he put cinnamon in his dad’s drinks.

Following its release on 19 September, the Menendez installment of Netflix’s Monsters has skyrocketed to number one on the streaming platform, and viewers have been gripped by each episode of the shocking true crime story.

Starring Chloë Sevigny, Javier Bardem, Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch, the series retells the events in the lead up to the high profile Menendez case.

In 1989, Lyle and Erik shot their parents José and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home.

The brothers would later be arrested in 1990, after police were tipped off to a confession that the brothers had made to their therapist Jerome Oziel.

A high profile trial would later follow with the brothers arguing their actions were out of self-defence after suffering years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their parents, while the prosecution argued the pair were instead motivated by financial gain.

With the events of the case once again being discussed by the public clips from the real-life case are resurfacing online – exposing a new generation of people to the harrowing details of the brothers’ story.

One moment in particular that has stuck in viewers minds is the scene were Erik revealed to his legal counsel that he put cinnamon in his father’s drinks and lemon in his own food as a method of diminishing his taste.

The real life Erik and Lyle Menendez (Ronald L. Soble / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The moment was taken from Erik’s real testimony, with the younger Menendez brother revealing it was a reaction to the alleged sexual abuse he’d suffered at the hands of his father.

“I didn’t really know what to do,” he claimed in his testimony. “I hid from him, I put cinnamon in his drinks, in his coffee, in his tea.”

He was then questioned why he had decided to add cinnamon in José’s drinks, to which he replied that it was because he’d heard ‘it made it taste better’ from a group of friends while in the seventh grade at school.

Erik was then asked to clarify what ‘it’ was referring to, to which he responded: “His semen.”

Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Chloë Sevigny, Javier Bardem and Cooper Koch as the Menendez family (Netflix)

Monsters has since divided reviews from fans since its premiere. Many people have praised the performances of Chavez and Koch as Lyle and Erik, calling the duo a perfect casting, while others have slammed Netflix over how the case has been depicted.

Erik himself has even responded to the series from behind bars, calling out co-creator Ryan Murphy for what he believes are ‘blatant lies’ in the story.