Linus Roache

Linus William Roache (born 1 February 1964)^[1] is a British actor. He played Executive ADA Michael Cutter in the NBC dramas Law & Order (2008–2010) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2011–2012), and also played Ecbert, King of Wessex in Vikings from 2014 to 2017.

Linus Roache
Roache with his wife Rosalind Bennett at Tiff 2022
Born	Linus William Roache (1964-02-01) 1 February 1964 (age 61) Manchester, England
Alma mater	Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1973–1976, 1985–present
Spouse	Rosalind Bennett ​ (m. 2002)​
Parents	William Roache (father) Anna Cropper (mother)
Relatives	James Roache (half-brother)

He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for playing Robert F. Kennedy in RFK (2002), won a Peabody Award for his role as Senator Wesley Smith in Fellow Travelers (2023), and won a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor (TV) for his role as Ralph Wigram in The Gathering Storm (2002). His film appearances include Priest (1994), The Wings of the Dove (1997), Pandaemonium (2000), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), Batman Begins (2005), Non-Stop (2014) and Mandy (2018). In 2018 and 2020, he had a recurring role in the final two seasons of Homeland.

Early life

Roache was born in Manchester, England, the son of Coronation Street actor William Roache and actress Anna Cropper.^[2] Roache was educated at Bishop Luffa School in Chichester, West Sussex,^[3] and at Rydal School in Colwyn Bay in north Wales.^[3] He studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.^[4]

Career

In 1975 Roache appeared in Coronation Street playing Peter Barlow, the son of his father's character Ken Barlow.^[5] Roache is also a past member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.^[5]

In the 1990s, Roache began a career in films while remaining active in television and on stage. In 1994 he took a leading role in Antonia Bird's Priest. In 1997, he starred opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the film The Wings of the Dove.^[5] In 2001, he won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor, for his performance as Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the Julien Temple directed film Pandaemonium alongside Samantha Morton.^[6]

In 2005, he played Thomas Wayne, father of Batman, in Batman Begins.^[5] On television he played Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter in two American series, Law & Order (2008–2010) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2011–2012).^[7]

In June 2010, it was announced that he would return to play Laurence Cunningham alongside his father William Roache in Coronation Street. The following month, he was cast in the HBO pilot The Miraculous Year.^[8]

In April 2011, Roache was cast as the lead in the ITV miniseries Titanic, airing in March and April 2012 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the ship.^[9]

In February 2014, Roache debuted in season two of the TV series Vikings as Ecbert, King of Wessex.^[10]

He starred in seasons seven and eight of the TV series Homeland as David Wellington in 2017–2019.^[11] Since then, he starred as Senator Wesley Smith on Showtime's Peabody Award-winning miniseries Fellow Travelers.

Personal life

After appearing in 1994's Priest and Seaforth, Roache took a break from acting. He stayed in India for 18 months, where he discovered meditation.^[12][1] He married actress Rosalind Bennett in Malvern Hills, Worcestershire, in 2002.^[3]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	No Surrender	Ulster Boy
1986	Link	Unknown	Uncredited
1994	Priest	Father Greg Pilkington
1997	The Wings of the Dove	Merton Densher
1999	Venice Project	Count Jacko/Count Giaccomo
	Siam Sunset	Perry
2000	Best	Denis Law
	Pandaemonium	Samuel Taylor Coleridge	Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor[6]
2002	Hart's War	Capt. Peter A. Ross
2003	Beyond Borders	Henry Bauford
	Blind Flight	John McCarthy	Nominated—BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in a Scottish Film
2004	The Forgotten	Mr. Shineer, A Friendly Man
	The Chronicles of Riddick	Purifier
2005	12 and Holding	Mr. Carges
	Batman Begins	Dr. Thomas Wayne
2006	A Through M	The Voice of the Party
	Find Me Guilty	Sean Kierney
	The Namesake	Mr. Lawson
2007	Broken Thread	Ram
2008	Before the Rains	Henry Moores
	Yonkers Joe	Teddy
2009	Out Here in the Fields: The Field on Beach Lane	Narrator
2012	$upercapitalist	Mark Patterson
2013	Innocence	Miles Warner
2014	Non-Stop	Captain David McMillan
2016	ID2: Shadwell Army	Vinnie
	Barry	Bill Baughman
2017	Division 19	Charles Lynden
2018	Mandy	Jeremiah Sand
2019	The Last Full Measure	Whit Peters
	A Call to Spy	Maurice Buckmaster
2022	My Policeman[13]	Older Tom Burgess[13]
	The Apology	Jack Kingsley
TBA	The Dresden Sun	Malik	Post-production[14]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973–1975	Coronation Street	Peter Barlow	Recurring role
1976	The Onedin Line	Boy	Episode "Quarantine"
1990	Omnibus	Vincent van Gogh	Episode: "Van Gogh"
1994	Seaforth	Bob Longman	9 episodes
1998	Shot Through the Heart	Vlado Selimovic	Television film
2002	RFK	Robert F. Kennedy	Television film Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
	The Gathering Storm	Ralph Wigram	Television film Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2006	The Ten Commandments	Aaron	2 episodes
2006–2007	Kidnapped	Andy Archer	13 episodes
2008–2010	Law & Order	Executive ADA Michael Cutter	63 episodes
2010	Coronation Street	Lawrence Cunningham	4 episodes
2011–2012	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Bureau Chief ADA Michael Cutter	4 episodes
2012	Titanic	Hugh, Earl of Manton	4 episodes
	The Making of a Lady	Lord Walderhurst	Television film
2014	The Blacklist	The Kingmaker	Episode: "The Kingmaker"
2014–2017	Vikings	King Ecbert of Wessex	26 episodes
2017	Bancroft	Tim Fraser	2 episodes
2017–2020	Homeland	David Wellington	23 episodes
2019	Summer of Rockets	Richard Shaw MP	6 episodes
2023	Fellow Travelers	Senator Wesley Smith[15]	8 episodes
2025	Doctor Who	Reginald Pye	Episode: "Lux"

Selected theatre

• Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. Directed by Ian Hastings at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1989)
• The title role in Richard II. Directed by James Macdonald at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1993)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1996	Chlotrudis Society for Independent Films	Best Actor	Priest	Nominated	[16]
2001	Evening Standard British Film Awards	Best Actor	Pandaemonium	Won	[6]
2003	60th Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance in a Miniseries or Television Film	RFK	Nominated	[16]
	7th Golden Satellite Awards	Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film	The Gathering Storm	Won	[16]
2004	BAFTA Awards, Scotland	Best Actor in a Scottish Film	Blind Flight	Nominated	[16]
2018	Fright Meter Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Mandy	Nominated	[16]
2019	Fangoria Chainsaw Awards			Nominated	[16]
	CinEuphoria Awards	Best Supporting Actor - International		Won	[16]
2023	Peabody Awards	Chronicling LGBTQ+ History Over 50 Years	Fellow Travelers	Won