Dick Wolf’s new procedural drama will have audiences questioning a crime from decades past.
In the early 90’s the Menendez Brothers Trial rocked the United States. Not only was the parricide committed incredibly violent in nature, but the alleged abuse that surrounded the family prior to the crime shocked the nation. There’s little surprise that crime TV connoisseur, Dick Wolf, chose the landmark case as the subject for his new “Law and Order: True Crime” series.
Unlike normal crime shows that often question who committed the act, this one centers on questioning if murder can be justified. True, the killing of one’s parents is never labeled “right”, but can audiences (juries) find sympathy and validation in a killer’s actions? The Knockturnal got to ask these questions and more to the stars of the new series during their Los Angeles premiere last week.
Carlos Gómez, tackled the role of Jose Menendez, the quickly murdered father of the brothers who was later accused of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse towards the boys.
Nicolette Acosta: So this is a really…light-hearted project. How did you deal with this kind of subject matter every day and then going home at night?
Carols Gómez: “…As soon as I’d get home I’d have to take a shower…and as soon as things started coming out, it was an icky feeling you know, of just having to be in the world that it was. It was very challenging as an actor to do that kind of part…I had to play the reality of what these kids thought had happened so that’s what I played you know? He comes across as a brutal, brutal man.
NA: Did you feel like you were able to dive into the Menendez family’s background a bit more since you’re also Cuban and how did it feel portraying someone of your own descent, but who’s also seen in such heinous light?
CG: Yeah that was very difficult because I’m representing not only him but the nationality. And to play a guy like this, again, it was very hard to make the decision to play him. But I wanted to do it to explain who he was as a person. Before the murders you know, he was an immigrant, came here at 16, went to business school, started from scratch-didn’t even know the language, he became an extremely successful businessman, worked for RCA, worked for Calico films where he created the “Rambo” franchise. He was a very very successful businessman who started from nothing, he was an immigrant, like the immigrant story and he amassed a 14 million dollar fortune – which was a lot of money in 1990, but his stamp is just of a person who was a child abuser. That’s all he’s remembered for and if that wouldn’t of happened, this guy could’ve been…one of the few people who was a Cuban/Latin executive in this industry, in Hollywood. So I’m a little biased because I am Cuban, but I had to give him some kind of humanity, as hard as it was.
NA: Do you think it would be harder to be this kind of character if you had had kids?
CG: “I think it would’ve been harder to do it, I mean I have nieces and nephews and stuff, and even that was…I mean there was a funny scene where I was going to do something that I do with my nieces and nephews and I thought, ‘You know what, I’m not going to do that because that’s going to be eerie if anybody sees it.’ But I think it would’ve been a little harder, but it was also tough because I’d see these little kids six and five come into makeup and I’d just…I can’t fathom a human being doing something to a kid because they’re so innocent and beautiful…it was very challenging to do the scenes and say, ‘Somebody does this.’ It was very tough.”
One of Gómez’s co-stars Sam Jaeger (Detective Lez Zoeller) who has a small army of children (four), talked about his experience working on the show as a father.
Sam Jaeger: “I’ve got four kids and it’s the most important thing I do every day is my time with them…It’s been interesting, you always think you’re going to do a much better job than your parents did, but I want these boys to be aware when they grow up, to be kind and be able to communicate their feelings to people and have an outlet for their pain and whatever they’re going through, and I don’t want to be the source of any of that. And I think these boys (the Menendez brothers) had such a horrific childhood, whether there was sexual abuse or not, there certainly was abuse on some level…
NA: Did it change the way you go home and see your kids after working on this show? Obviously on “Parenthood” it was so family oriented, but this is a very different kind of family case.
SJ: Yeah you know, “Parenthood” brought everything I learned as a parent into work and here I try to take what I do at work and just remind myself on the way home how lucky I am to come into a loving home where my wife is all about communication and all about compassion and uh hopefully my kids don’t try and off me anytime in the near future.
NA: Since working on the show, has your opinion of the brothers changed?
SJ: “It has a little bit. When I started off I thought, you know, ‘ Rule number one: Don’t kill your parents.'”
NA: That’s a fair rule.
SJ: “That’s fair right? But you know, rule number two is: Don’t abuse your kids. And you know, I don’t know if they were as abused as they claimed, but they certainly weren’t treated with as much kindness as little kids need and I think that’s what’s important about this story, that this brings that to light, the power of a broken home.”
The two stars of the series, Miles Gaston Villanueva and Gus Halper (Lyle and Erik Menendez) had to inhabit that broken home experience more than anyone else in the cast and both spoke to the question in everyone’s mind when examing the trial, were the murders justified?
Miles Gaston Villanueva: That’s a huge question.
Gus Halper: It is a huge question, but I don’t think they were right to do it and I think they’d be the first people to admit that it wasn’t the right thing to do, that it was a huge mistake, they regret it. Do I understand why they did it? Yes, absolutely. Do I think they got the right sentence? No.
MGV: So succinct, but yeah, not I totally agree.
Audiences will get the chance to make up their minds themselves on Tuesday, September 26, when Law and Order: True Crime debuts on NBC.
