Cooper Koch Details Dream Roles from Queer Literature

Out actor Cooper Koch is ready to enhance his "Monster" success with a wishlist of movie roles he'd like to see adapted to the screen from queer literature – and the list includes some steamy choices, including one title that has divided readers.

"Speaking to Vman, the actor said he wanted to star in an adaptation of Hanya Yanagihara's 'A Little Life,' the critically acclaimed novel that has been described as both a 'masterpiece' and 'trauma porn' because of its explicit themes of abuse," Pink News relayed.

"The novel follows four men living in New York, focusing on a lawyer with a harrowing history of abuse," the writeup went on to detail. "It contains explicit depictions of sexual and physical abuse, and self-harm."

A less controversial choice is "Giovanni's Room," a 1956 novel by James Baldwin about a bisexual man living in Paris and exploring relationships with other men during his fiancee's absence. The title refers to an Italian man with whom the main character, David, passes the night during which the story is set.

A third novel cited by Koch is "'All Fours,' by Miranda July, about a 45-year-old woman who has a sexual awakening after a cross-country road trip," Pink News detailed.

"I don't want it to sound like I'm conceited, like I can do whatever I want," Koch told the magazine. "It's more like, I just want to do things that I feel have meaning and purpose that I'm passionate about."

The Vman interview recalled how swiftly Koch has risen; it wasn't long ago that he was serving up ice cream for a living. The piece also zeroed in on a particular episode of "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story," the Ryan Murphy-produced Netflix series that recounts the crime committed by real-life brothers who murdered their well-to-do parents with shotguns, and reenacts portions of the harrowing trial that followed.

In "The Hurt Man" episode of "Monsters," which takes place in the latter half of the series, a camera slowly zooms in on Koch's character, Erik, as he recounts a lifetime of sexual abuse at his father's hands. The entire half hour unreels in a single unbroken take, with Koch delivering a devastating performance.

After that tour de force it seems certain that Koch could tackle any acting assignment, though fans seem to want to see him interpret yet another persona from the annals of true crime: That of Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the shooting death of insurance company CEO Brian Thompson.

That's a role Koch has said he would take a pass on if a filmic version of Mangione's story ever comes to be made. But he has also said he'd be interested in portraying fictional killer Patrick Bateman in a remake of "American Psycho," which "Call Me By Your Name" director Luca Guadagnino has reportedly been planning. (Austin Butler is said to be in serious contention for that role.)

One role the hot young star would like to see the real Erik and Lyle Menéndez get cast in some time soon: free men.

"The main lesson is that wisdom begins when you accept things as they are," Koch told Vman. "Erik teaches speech classes, yoga, and meditation, and they help people who have been through sexual abuse. They've gotten college degrees. They've found a life in prison because they've accepted what happened to them, and they accepted what they did."

"That takes such courage and bravery and strength and time," Koch added. "I think for that reason they deserve to come home."