April 3, 1995

Hollywood Calls

British Actor Linus Roache Hot After Priest Outing

 

By BRUCE KIRKLAND

Toronto Sun

 

HOLLYWOOD -  Don't go to the controversial film Priest looking for

"the gay shock horror movie" that has religious reactionaries who

haven't seen it so riled up.

 

That's the message from Linus Roache, the 31-year-old English actor

who stars as the title character, a Liverpool priest who is torn

between his moral duties, his vow of celibacy, his secret life as

a sexually active gay man, and his rigid public persona.

 

Roache says the film is a very serious, thoughtful film, not a bit

of sensationalism.

 

"It's so real, it's so important and it can just reach anybody who's

human," he says in an interview. "It isn't gratuitous. It's very

sensitive. And so far the response (from those who have seen it,

including Catholic priests he knows personally) is not shock or horror.

The response is: Okay, this is really challenging."

 

Priest, which won the most popular film award at the Toronto film

festival last September, opens commercially in Toronto on Friday.

 

Roache, a respected veteran of England's Royal Shakespearean Company,

knows there is a furious debate raging about the social politics of

the story, especially among right-wing priests and among Catholics who

have threatened to picket the film.

 

"It's going to draw them out of the woodwork, isn't it? Maybe that's

good in itself," he says. "But I've got to say that this film is just

asking questions. It's not coming up with answers.

 

"Yes, the film is controversial, but it's just challenging the status

quo and asking questions that are from the heart. They're cries from

the heart, really.

 

"So I think anyone can identify with this film. But anybody who is

very stuck and staid and wants things the way they want them to be

is going, maybe, to be upset by it. I don't think that's a bad thing.

It doesn't frighten me."

 

What is more worrisome to Roache personally is figuring out what to

do about the sudden international interest in his career and his

obvious talent.

 

Before Priest hit, Roache had already grabbed attention in Britain

as "a matinee idol" for his starring role in the BBC-TV miniseries

Seaforth. Priest is turning him into a movie star there and Hollywood

is calling.

 

For the moment, Roache is luxuriating. "There's a definite response and it's great," he says. "But I don't

know what's next. I'm not a workaholic, so I'll never be the kind

of person who wants to go from movie to movie. I like travelling and

having my time to myself.

 

"So I don't want to get wrapped up in something that's bigger than me,

that's controlling me. I want to be very objective and do stuff that

I care about."

 

He cares passionately about Priest. But he knows he was spoiled by

the experience because the role itself was so extraordinary and

director Antonia Bird involved him intimately in the filmmaking

process. It may never be this good again.

 

"Well, that's the problem, isn't it? It might be the role of a

lifetime! It might be the chance of a lifetime!"