Miles Gaston Villanueva lands role in Law & Order's Menendez brothers story

Miles Gaston Villanueva lands role in Law & Order's Menendez brothers story

If you thought Luca Santori was a guy with some issues, wait until you see Miles Gaston Villanueva's next role. The Y&R vet will tackle the role of Lyle Mendendez, the elder of two brother convicted of murdering their parents in their Beverly Hills home.

With the success of American Crime Story's O.J. Simpson docudrama, it seems that everyone is jumping on the real-life crime stories bandwagon. This fall, the Law & Order franchise joins the fray with the aptly titled Law & Order True Crime. The series will tackle the Menendez murders, and it will star former The Young and the Restless star Miles Gaston Villanueva.

"Cat's outta the bag," Villanueva shared on Twitter along with a series of thanks yous to those who helped him land the project.

The eight-episode first installment of the anthology series is described as a "gripping in-depth dramatization" of the real-life murder case of the Menendez brothers. The brothers were tried for and convicted of brutally slaying their parents in Beverly Hills. During the trial, the brothers claimed the murders were the result of years of sexual and psychological abuse by the parents. The defense was ultimately rejected by jurors, who sentenced the brothers to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

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The Law & Order series will explore all the aspects of the case that did not play out in front of the cameras.

Villanueva will play the elder Menendez brother, Lyle. He joins Gus Halper, who will play Erik Menendez, and Edie Falco, who will play the Menendez brothers' defense attorney, Leslie Abramson.

Villanueva is best known to daytime viewers as Luca Santori on CBS's The Young and the Restless, a role he played from 2015 to 2016.

NBC has released a trailer for the series, though it was produced for its upfront presentation to advertisers and features limited actual footage from the series. That, however, does not make it any less dramatic. You can check it out below.

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NBC isn't the only network setting its sights on the Menendezes. Lifetime is developing a movie based on the crime story.

What are your thoughts on Villanueva landing this role? Are you a fan of the real-life turned into drama genre? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.

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