The lowdown on Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Brothers. Who is playing who and how?
The lowdown on Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Brothers. Who is playing who and how?

Pop CultureDecember 7, 2018

Who plays who in Law and Order True Crime: The Menéndez Murders

Contributing writer
The lowdown on Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Brothers. Who is playing who and how?
The lowdown on Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Brothers. Who is playing who and how?

It was the *other* double murder that defined the nineties – the one that wasn’t OJ-related. Coming to Lightbox today is its TV dramatisation: Law and Order True Crime: The Menéndez Murders. But who are all these people? Sam Brooks has the info you need.

I was not yet born when Lyle and Erik Menéndez walked on into their parents’ living room and unloaded many shotgun shells into their parents; I was only three years old when their trial finally made its way to court. So I’m not exactly of a time where this trial was all over the news. But after talking to my friends who are obsessed with true crime, I know there were two big crime stories of the nineties: it was the OJ thing, and this.

And now it’s been turned into a miniseries, under the prestigious Law and Order brand, and with a wicked cast. Thanks to my storied knowledge and the help of Wikipedia, I can tell you exactly who is playing who, where you’ve seen them before, and give you a little bit of foundation knowledge to go into the show with.

Without further ado, the player of Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders.

Spoilers, obviously. But also, this actually happened. So it’s less spoilers and more, the news.

Edie Falco as Leslie Abramson.

Edie Falco is Leslie Abramson

Who is she? Edie Falco is one of television’s finest actors, established as such by the little known mob series The Sopranos. Since then, she’s won an Emmy for playing the titular Jackie, a pill-popping, hard-loving, harder-living nurse, on Nurse Jackie. If you go deep into her career, you can also see her on Oz and the OG Law and Order. But, I have to say, my favourite role of hers is her short run on season three of 30 Rock as the Democrat Celeste Cunningham, who falls in love with the most Republican of Republicans Jack Donaghy.

Who is she playing? Leslie Abramson was the defense attorney for the Menendez Brothers, and was notably flamboyant and performative in her style. She did some shady shit during the trial, which complicated everything and made it even more of a media scandal. Also, she rocked a great perm.

Gus Halper as Eric Menendez.

Gus Halper is Erik Menéndez

Who is he? This is actually Gus Halper’s first big role, so you’re forgiven for not recognising him! Outside of this he’s been in an episode of Madam Secretary, andthree episodes of Power, but he’s most likely known best for his role in the Meryl Streep vehicle Ricki and the Flash, as ‘Impatient Traveller’.

Who is he playing? Erik Menéndez, the younger of the Menéndez brothers! He was the one who, after the murders, competed in a few pro-tennis tournaments in Israel, as one does. Like his brother, he was sentenced to life in prison.

Fun fact: Erik Menéndez is married and got married behind bars, over the telephone. Who needs Tinder, right?

Miles Gaston Villaneuva is Lyle Menendez.

Miles Gaston Villanueva is Lyle Menéndez

Who is he? You are also forgiven for not recognising Mr. Villanueve, as Lyle Menéndez represents his first big role outside of soap operas. His biggest roles prior to this were on The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives. Welcome to the big leagues, Miles, where there are far fewer evil twins and staring into the middle distance to close out a scene.

Who is he playing? Lyle Menéndez is the older Menéndez brother. While Erik competed in tennis tournaments post-murder, Lyle just bought a whole lot of stuff, like watches and cars and a Buffalo wing restaurant in New Jersey.

Fun fact: Lyle Menendez has been married twice since being behind bars. His first wife left him because he had been ‘seeing another’ woman. What a catch!

Anthony Edwards is Judge Stanley Weisberg.

Anthony Edwards is Judge Stanley Weisberg

Who is he? Anthony Edwards is probably best known to your eyeballs as being on ER for-bloody-ever, playing Doctor Mark Greene. He was also in early-nineties hit Northern Exposure and had a very memorable role in David Fincher’s Zodiac, about the Zodiac Killer.

Also? Top Gun.

Who is he playing? Judge Stanley Weisberg presided over the first two Menéndez trials. He was criticised for allowing ‘the television’ to affect his judgments, and because of this, forbade cameras from being allowed into the second trial. He was parodied on Saturday Night Live, like all good justices of our time.

Julianne Nicholson is Jill Lansing.

Julianne Nicholson is Jill Lansing

Who is she? Julianne Nicholson is one of the most underrated actors of our time. She’s had critically acclaimed roles in both Boardwalk Empire and Maters of Sex, but my favourite of her performances has to be in August: Osage County where she plays the quietly aggrieved daughter, Ivy. She is also quietly beautiful in acclaimed Tonya Harding film I, Tonya and little known indie film Keep the Lights On. I’m a fan, is all.

(You can also watch her right now in Eyewitness, a kicky drama on Lightbox.)

Who is she playing? Jill Lansing, who was on the defence team for the first trial. I can’t find heaps about her, but she resigned from the team in the second trial to spend more time with her daughter. I can imagine this wasn’t exactly the nicest case to be a part of. I hope wherever you are, Jill, you feel proud to be played by Julianne Nicholson, one of the most underrated actors of our time.

Harry Hamlin is Barry Levin.

Harry Hamlin is Barry Levin

Who is he? Harry Hamlin has been in a shitton of things. If you’re over the age of forty, you would remember him from LA Law and Clash of the Titans. If you’re under forty but over twenty-five, you probably know him from playing the terrifying Aaron Echolls in season one of Veronica Mars. If you watched Mad Men, you’ll remember him from Mad Men. If you’re me, you’ll remember him from his one episode stint on The Nanny.

Who is he playing? Barry Levin was Abramson’s co-counsel on the second Menéndez trial. He was found dead in a cemetary in 2001, from unrelated circumstances and so cannot enjoy Harry Hamlin playing him. Levin was a famous lawyer in LA, and argued against the death penalty for the brothers.

Heather Graham is Judalon Smyth.

Heather Graham is Judalon Smyth

Who is she? Heather Graham’s most famous starring roles to date are in two films that couldn’t be more different. She played Felicity Shagwell in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and she played Rollergirl in Paul Thomas Anderson’s depressing porn drama, Boogie Nights. She also had a well-received arc on Scrubs in the middle of the aughts, like many actors of her ilk.

Who is she playing? Judalon Smyth is a strange part of this case. She was Jerome Oziel’s mistress, and ended up providing testimony against him, and honestly, look up their story online because it’s just as wild as the murders, and worthy of its own True Crime show.

Josh Charles is Jerome Oziel.

Josh Charles is Jerome Oziel

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    Who is he? Josh Charles is most famous for his role in Dead Poet’s Society nearly thirty years ago, and his role as Will Gardner, the hunky-ish lawyer on The Good Wife, who tempts our good wife away from being the goodest wife she can be. In between, he was pretty great on Aaron Sorkin’s late nineties comedy, Sports Night.

    Who is he playing? Oziel is a pivotal part of the trial. Erik confessed the murders to him, he was threatened by Lyle, and when Oziel told Judalon about the confession, she tipped off the police. He was later disbarred and potentially the luckiest thing that’s happened in his life is having somebody as handsome as Josh Charles play him.

    You can watch all of Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders on Lightbox right here.

    Keep going!
    Bishop Heahmund making a compelling counter-argument in a debate with Cuthred
    Bishop Heahmund making a compelling counter-argument in a debate with Cuthred

    Pop CultureDecember 6, 2018

    Vikings recap: Blackmail fail for troublesome priest

    Staff Writer
    Bishop Heahmund making a compelling counter-argument in a debate with Cuthred
    Bishop Heahmund making a compelling counter-argument in a debate with Cuthred

    The latest episode of Vikings shows that even in the more civilised parts of this world, subtle politicking can still be overcome by a knife straight through the eye. Alex Braae recaps episode twelve of season five of Vikings.

    One of the affectations that Vikings has always relied on a bit too heavily is the use of prancing, Queen’s English accents to signify who in the world is civilised and who in the world is a swaggering brute. And given that the most consequential plotlines of this season are taking place in England, expect to hear a lot of verbal monocles falling into glasses.

    It seems somewhat notable that the increasingly astute and accomplished King Alfred doesn’t really talk in an impossibly posh voice – merely a possibly posh voice – and he alone among the English characters seems to have some idea of how to play the game.

    The episode opens with Lagertha, Bjorn, Torvi and Ubbe all shackled up in a cage, being paraded through the streets of King Alfred’s capital. Unfortunately for them, it looks like they’ve been played. Lagertha, however, continues to trust her paramour Bishop Heahmund, and believes he really won’t sell them out. And he doesn’t. But the deal Alfred offers them isn’t quite what they expected.

    Rather than being given the land they were promised in exchange for some fighting, our Vikings will have to do the fighting as a down payment on land later. Lagertha accepts on their behalf, pissing Bjorn off mightily. It pisses off most of Alfred’s court too, setting up a state of affairs in which the Vikings will probably come to be pawns in the wider battle Alfred will have to fight against the nobility, and the church. Who – let’s not forget here – are plotting to kill him.

    Heahmund wants his Bishopric of Sherborne back, to get back to the simple life he once had of praying and killing heathens. But there’s a new guy in the job – a character seemingly so insubstantial that I didn’t even bother noting down his name (it’s Lord Cuthred) – who appears to want to be Bishop for the political power it confers. And that leads to a rather awkward meeting between the two, with the new guy trying to keep in Heahmund’s good books. Cuthred even hints at the plot against Alfred, but the holier man of the two is having none of it.

    “Bissssssssh, please.”

    Also, by now Bishop Heahmund is already breaking his vows of celibacy again with Lagertha, and naturally Cuthred has hired a creepy perv to follow him around. They’re instantly caught in the act (and then again later in the episode for good measure.)

    This gives Cuthred important material with which to blackmail Heahmund, but rather than taking it straight to the King, or going public with it, he decided to write a letter, which was a huge mistake. Because we’re not watching a world in which political gamesmanship can carry the day. We’re watching a world in which people with disagreements tend to simply murder each other, which Heahmund closes out the episode by doing exactly that, repeatedly stabbing Cuthred, including once through the eye, inside a church. Call it realpolitik if you like.

    Meanwhile, in the other plot-lines, Ivar remains a complete bell-end. What’s more concerning for the subjects of his new Kingdom of Kattegat is that his new wife Freydis is both playing him, and also planting the seed in his head that he is a god. Ivar traditionally hasn’t paid much heed to concepts like diplomacy or rule by consent of the governed, so it’s clear that this is only going to end badly for someone.

    Probably Ivar’s brother Hvitserk, who has now been elbowed out of the line of succession by Freydis getting pregnant. The supposed divinity of Ivar is important here, as it’s pointed out during the episode that he really is ‘boneless’ (hur hur hur) and the child isn’t actually biologically his – Freydis uses a random redshirt guard to get pregnant. It’s unlikely to end well for him either.

    So with brotherly conflict looming there, it’s also on the way in Britain, where Alfred works on Ubbe by suggesting that he adopt Christianity, to quell some of the court unrest about pagans being allowed to roam freely. The way he does this is masterful, by playing on the loyalty Ubbe has towards his late father Ragnar.

    Various suggestions get made on Vikings forums that the four surviving sons of Ragnar are meant to express some facet of his personality, and Ubbe is the closest to the version of Ragnar that was friends with the late King of Wessex Ecbert. So it makes sense that he would be more open to the suggestion of converting, even if (perhaps especially if) it goes against the wishes of Bjorn, who is all in on the old gods. Given the history that is being worked with here, of the slow but fascinating conversion of Scandinavian people to Christianity, this is a story worth following.

    Communion wine eh? Could be keen, could be keen…

    Unfortunately, over in Iceland, not a lot of anything is going on. Floki spends the episode asking a waterfall rhetorical questions and having a crisis of confidence, a sad fate for such a wild card of a character. Part of the problem with this setting is that it takes place in complete isolation to the rest of anything going on in the show.

    Even back in Kattegat, they’re talking about what’s going on in England. But – perhaps reflecting the actual conditions of voyages of discovery – they’re all on their own. And in a show that has always been really good at weaving different plots together so that events in one will have consequences in another, this all just seems hard to invest in. But perhaps I’m wrong, and later on someone will sail somewhere to do something that matters.

    Final quote: Bishop Cuthred – “And then you saw them fornicating?”

    Creepy perv guy – “Yes, my lord.” Dramatic pause. “Making the beast with two backs.”

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