AFI Film Festival 1997

AFI Interview: Actor Linus Roache

LOS ANGELES - Linus Roache did not look forward to shooting his latest drama
'The Wings of The Dove' in the picturesque locale of Venice, Italy, but
soon warmed to the idea once he arrived in the city of canals and cannoli.

"I didn't like the place when I first arrived. It didn't have a ring to it
for me," he said. "I thought it was quite smelly and decaying, but
within a few days, I kind of understood why everyone falls prey to its
charms. It's a very evocative and sort of hypnotic place. You can feel the
history still lingering there. It almost feels haunted, but in a sweet way,
not an eerie way."

Roache's character, the frustrated journalist Merton Densher, also falls
under Venice's spell. Merton travels to Venice in the company of his
scheming lover Kate Croy (Helena Bonham-Carter) and her ailing friend,
American heiress Millie Theale (Alison Elliott).

Kate manipulates Merton into courting Millie in the hopes that Millie will
leave him her considerable fortune. Roache said he viewed Kate as a
precursor to the femme fatale characters of 1940s film noir.

"Helena has done an amazing job because you really sympathize with her,
but you also find that you are appalled by her as well," he said. "You're
very attracted to her, which is what those femme fatale characters are all
about. You like them but you hate them."

The tangled emotions of Merton inspired Roache, 33, to return from
sabbatical for 'The Wings of The Dove'. After the emotionally wrenching
role of a gay priest in Antonia Bird's 'Priest', Roache took a year off 
from acting to relax and recuperate. The classically trained actor, a
native of Manchester, England, said he appreciated the complexity of
'The Wings of The Dove'.

"There's a lot of mixed motivations. It's very human," he said. "The whole
thing's quite rich. You really see there's some purity in the motivation,
but at the bottom of it, how selfish it is, really."