HEART OF THE MATTER FOR ROACHE

 

TV Plus, 26/1/99

By: Julie Tyers

 

Black combat uniform, muscular arms and hands brandishing

a gun. Very un-Ken Barlow, but it's the powerfull image

Linus Roache (son of Coronation Street's William)

portrays in a TV film about the Yugoslavian conflict.

 

It's meaty stuff, and a million miles from corrie. But,

as we discover, it's just where the young actor wants to

be.

 

Sporting unflattering blond locks for his role in the

George Best biopic, Best (he plays footballer Dennis Law),

Linus Roache is in a philosophical mood. He has just seen

his new film, Shot Through The Heart, for the first time.

 

Based on a true story, it tells the tale of two best

friends who end up as snipers on separate sides in war-torn

Sarajevo. During filming, Linus made friends with the man

he played.

 

Playing former sniper Vlado Sarzinski changed Linus' views

on guns. "It's probably not the most politically correct

thing to say, but I really enjoyed working with them",

he says.

 

Asked if he could turn killer if need be, he adds: "I can

understand and support what Vlado had to do. It helped

me to think of what I would do if I was in a room with

Hitler and had a gun."

 

MATRIMONY

 

Although still technically single, Linus, 34, and actress

Rosalind Bennett have lived together for more than 10

years. What about matrimony? With a smile, Linus says:

"I think I might just get married to make it easy to

answer that question."

 

"I consider us married in a way, it's just we haven't got

around to the ceremony. It's more about commitment than

a band of gold."

 

After his big acting break in the controversial film

Priest and the BBC wartime drama Seaforth, Linus gave up

acting. He spent 18 months in India where he discovered

spiritual meditation. He returned to the profession to

get rave reviews for the movie Wings of The Dove.

 

"I came back from India a very different person", he says,

"I'm enjoying acting, and I feel I'm better at it as I'm

less precious about it."

 

Linus has never made a secret that he's unhappy to talk

about his famous dad, who plays Corrie's Ken Barlow. But

today he's in a buoyant mood and says the family, which

includes Linus' two step-siblings, spent Christmas together.

 

"Dad's really excited about Shot Through The Heart. He

feels it'll be my best work yet", he says. "He likes my

gritty stuff."

 

When Linus refused a second series of Seaforth he got a

reputation for being too fussy. "It's just that I prefer

to do single projects rather than get bogged down in long

series of soaps", he explains.

 

For his next film, Siam Sunset, he's playing a UK tourist

stranded in the Aussie outback on a bus full of pickled

beetroot. Un-Ken Barlow indeed.

 

Shot Through The Heart: BBC2, Sunday January 31. 10.10pm