Ari Graynor hasn’t contacted the real Leslie Abramson as she prepares for her role as a legendary lawyer in Netflix’s ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.’

“I knew she made it pretty clear that she never wanted to talk about her business.” Graynor narrates Variety. “You will notice that in all the documentaries and programs that have been made, she has never been interviewed. She really took a step back, I think, not only because this case was so painful for her, but she also didn’t mince her words about the media and its effects on things.”

Abramson published a memoir in 1997, “The Defense Is Ready: Life in the Trenches of Criminal Law.” Now, at the age of 80, she is retired and rarely makes public appearances.

“I feel so deeply connected to her and I feel like I’ve fallen in love with her from afar,” says Graynor. “A big part of this journey for me was wanting to do her justice. So now I’m trying to email her. I tried to find people who could maybe pass it on to her, just to acknowledge her and tell her what I saw in her and if she ever wants to talk.

Graynor believes Erik and Lyle Menendez deserve a new trial, with the ultimate goal of seeing them released from prison. They are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for the 1989 first-degree murder of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez.

“I feel very close to them in this bizarre other reality,” says Graynor. “And I hear that they are extraordinary people who, as Leslie said at the end of the show… will make their lives meaningful and make wonderful contributions to society. From everything I’ve heard they are great. Erik teaches meditation, they work on the (prison reform initiative) GreenSpace project. I would like to hug them one day.”

I remind Graynor that series co-creator Ryan Murphy praised her back-acting when I spoke with him about the fifth episode, a 33-minute single-take in which Erik (Cooper Koch) provides a detailed account of the sexual and emotional abuse in his childhood. bothered by his father. Graynor’s voice is heard, but viewers never see her face because her back is always turned to the camera. “I thought to myself the other day that Episode 5 was the purest artistic experience I’ve ever had because there wasn’t a camera in my face,” says Graynor. “There’s this theory in physics that an observer changes a state of something, and there was something about being so present and wanting so badly to be there for Cooper and giving him everything I could so he could give everything he could . My face became a performance for one – for him.”

On a lighter note, Graynor recalls transforming into Abramson with the help of a large blonde curly wig. “She was a beautiful, transformational, multi-faceted perfect lady,” says Graynor of the voluminous locks. “There is no Leslie without her hair and her clothes. It told me how I felt and how I found her.

She remembers wearing the wig to a dinner with a family. “I had a four-hour break, so I took her (the wig) out to dinner in Silver Lake,” she says, smiling. “I sat down at the table and they had no idea who I was. The waiter came by later that evening and said, “Great hair.”