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