Last summer, the aging yet eerily indestructible “Law & Order” announced that its leading man, Sam Waterston, who plays prickly Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy, would be getting a promotion. Waterston is now the show’s D.A.. It was a risky move for creator Dick Wolf – Waterston had dominated the courtroom for years, badgering witnesses, rankling judges and sometimes sticking his wing-tipped shoe in his mouth.
Finding someone who was younger, sexier but no less professional was Wolf’s challenge. He could have chosen any one of the hundreds of New York theater actors who have worked as guest stars on the series. Instead, he picked British actor Linus Roache, whose only previous American TV series experience was last year’s “Kidnapped,” the NBC drama that performed so poorly it was yanked after five episodes.
“It was one of those real learning curves about TV that you learn to appreciate,” says Roache, 43.
That experience did not put him off doing another series, though, especially when Wolf asked him to audition. Like most people who live on planet Earth, Roache had seen some episodes of “Law & Order.” “It’s one of those shows you can’t get through life without knowing,” he says.
Oddly enough, though, Roache did not read for the role he would ultimately play, Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter. He tested with some of Jack McCoy’s dialogue. Once he was hired, he did not receive a script containing his own character’s lines until two or three weeks before shooting.
Like many TV attorneys, Michael Cutter is one of those brash rule breakers who doesn’t have much of a life outside work. He is also an American, something Roache has prepared for by working with dialect coach Sam Schwat. “There were a couple of instances where I was pronouncing things incorrectly because I didn’t know the American expression,” he says.
Wolf welcomed Roache to the set on his first day of filming. He says the venerable producer has “a wonderful, paternal love for the show.” For his part, Wolf says he found the right man to reinvigorate his million-dollar baby.
“We saw many people for this role, we screen tested numerous actors and Linus won it going away,” says Wolf. “There was no competition when you saw the film, it was clearly his role.”
“It’s weighty strong interesting stuff that has been very fulfilling,” Roache says after completing 11 episodes (the show has not shut down because of the writers’ strike). He’s also been very impressed by roster of guest-stars who’ve so far appeared in the series’ 18th season: Sean Astin, Lara Flynn Boyle, Brad Dourif and Terry Kinney.
“I might be stepping into something that’s 18 years old but it still has a lot of passion and energy,” he says.
But Roache was most concerned how he would get along with Waterston. “Sam was amazing. He was so gracious and welcoming, but he allowed me to find my own way,” he says. “I’m stepping into big shoes so I’m relieved that he’s still on the show. His experience was so helpful in the read-throughs.”
Linus Roache was born near Manchester, England, the child of two professional actors. He says his parents did well in the 1970s and they moved Roache and his younger sister Vanya to London. His father, William Roache, is an original cast member of Britain’s longest-running TV series – “Coronation Street” – so father and son have something in common as “Law & Order” shares the same distinction in America. In 1994, he received his big break in the controversial Antonia Bird film “Priest.” Roache gave an impressive portrayal of a closeted Catholic clergyman whose same-sex affair wreaks havoc in his poor working-class parish. Shortly after, though, Roache took an extended break from acting, lasting well over a year. He set out for India in search of spiritual renewal.
“It made a big difference,” he says. “I realized that if I lived through my work, my life was going to be painful. It gave me a chance to step back and I came back to my profession with a sense of joy. When I quit acting, I saw that that intensity goes on anywhere and it was interesting to think it wasn’t unique to performers.
“I get wound-up cooking dinner,” he quips. “It’s part of being a post-modern narcissist.”
Roache is not so narcissistic that he doesn’t relate to other people. He’s been married for four years to Rosalind Bennett. Roache has been living in the United States since 2002 and Roache loves how easy it is to blend in New York. “You’re welcomed here, it doesn’t matter where you’re from,” he says. “You’re just part of the city. In London you don’t feel that.”
He returns to England to visit family members and spent Christmas there with his sister. It was a bittersweet holiday as it marked the anniversary of the death of his mother, Anna Cropper. “She died in January from a painless heart attack. She left the world without a fuss,” he recalls. “She had been watching a special DVD of ‘Cabaret’ in the afternoon. It was freeze-framed on her television, with Liza Minnelli in full-swing.”
LAW AND ORDER
Sunday, 9 p.m., NBC