Cooper Koch Recalls Being Told His ‘Gay Voice’ Would Hinder His Career

The Monsters star shared the troubling comments on a recent episode of Watch What Happens Live…

Cooper Koch, one of the breakout stars of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, is speaking out on the criticism he previously received from an acting coach over his so called “gay voice.” On a recent episode of Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen asked him: “Is it true an acting teacher told you the reason you weren’t booking roles is because you have a ‘gay voice?'” “Yeah, that’s true,” he responded.

“I was so stunned by it at the time. It was before the class even started, and then I had to go through class. I’ll add more to the story — she then proceeded to tell the entire class the conversation we had, and all the students are looking at me like, ‘Oh my god, aww.'”

Koch playfully shared that he can “flip it on and off,” turning to Cohen’s other guest Finneas O’Connell with a “what’s good bro” and his best hetero handshake. “You’d never know,” O’Connell joked.

Koch shared a more detailed reaction to this experience back in 2023 with the Edge Media Network, saying, “I have a thick skin and at this point in my life, I’ve, you know, been through bullying when I was a kid, I’ve been fired from a pilot because of it… But I also don’t tolerate it anymore. I just will turn the other way and walk away. And also, it’s like, yeah, if you’re gonna have that kind of opinion or you’re not gonna wanna work with me because my voice sounds a certain way or because I walk or talk or move my hands in a certain way, then I don’t wanna work with you either, babe.”

Koch remains confident in himself, telling Cohen, “I love my gay voice.” The host and Bravo bigwig replied, “I love your gay voice too.”

Though Koch’s only racked up a handful of roles in feature films prior to the high-profile Netflix series, he made a big impression in Ryan Murphey’s Monsters as Erik Menéndez, and made a few other eyebrow raising comments during his appearance on the Clubhouse… Like when he clarified — without prompting — that during his full-frontal nude scene in the series, “mine was not a prosthetic.”