Linus William Roache (born 1 February 1964) is a British actor. He is best known to US audiences as 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.
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), (1990 BBC Omnibus film) Van Gogh 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. Roache was educated at Bishop Luffa School in Chichester, West Sussex, and at Rydal School in Colwyn Bay in north Wales.
Career
From 1973 to 1975, Roache appeared in Coronation Street as Peter Barlow, the son of his father's character Ken Barlow.
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. In 2005, he played Thomas Wayne, father of Batman, in Batman Begins.
In June 2010, it was announced that he would return to play Lawrence Cunningham, the other son of Ken, in Coronation Street. The following month, Roache was cast in the HBO pilot The Miraculous Year. 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. In February 2014, Roache debuted in season two of the TV series Vikings as Ecbert, King of Wessex. He starred in seasons seven and eight of the TV series Homeland as David Wellington in 2017–2019. 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.
|Older Tom Burgess
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Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
!Ref.
|-
| 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
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2002
| RFK
| Robert F. Kennedy
| Television film<br>Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
|
|-
| The Gathering Storm
| Ralph Wigram
| Television film<br>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
| Main role (seasons 18–20); 63 episodes
|
|-
| 2010
| Coronation Street
| Lawrence Cunningham
| 4 episodes
|
|-
| 2011–2012
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
| Bureau Chief ADA Michael Cutter
| 4 episodes
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|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
| 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
{| width="95%" class="wikitable"
|-
! width="10" | Year
! width="350" | Award
! width="450" | Category
! width="220" | Nominated work
! width="30" | Result
! width="35" | Ref.
|-
|1996
| Chlotrudis Society for Independent Films
| Best Actor
|Priest
|
|
|-
| 2001
| Evening Standard British Film Awards
| Best Actor
| Pandaemonium
|
|