Linus Roache made an outstanding big screen debut playing 
the lead in Antonia Bird's awardwinning "Priest". In the
same year he came to wider public notice in the UK, starring
in the popular BBC drama, "Seaforth". Previously he had
enjoyed a distinguished acting career in theatre, performing
for such prestigious companies as the Royal Shakespeare
Company, the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Court.
His stage roles have ranged from Edgar in "King Lear", to
the title role in "Richard II", and Clive Harrington in
"Five Finger Excercise".

"What I love about "The Wings of The Dove" is its subtleties.
It really deals in depth with the dilemmas that the
characters are in, rather than coming up with glib answers",
explains Roache. "There is nothing cut and dried about it."
Roache, who returns to the big screen after a sabbatical
following his bravura performance in "Priest", was particu-
larly excited about the role of Merton when he read it.
"He is caught in a huge moral dilemma, but it is one of
his own making. He could get out at any point. It almost
seems like he doesn't think about it enough - he just gets
swept away, bit by bit. There is something incredibly 
painful in that."

"Merton starts out as quite an ordinary fellow, an everyman
of sorts. He is very commited journalist, involved in
writing about injustice. I thought a lot about the kind of
things that he might have read - I expect that it would have 
been the new wave of fiction and political pamphlets. He
is very much a thinker, the kind of person who was excited
by the new ideas that were around at the time and who 
himself was helping to redefine society. But then Kate comes
along, and everything changes as he becomes hooked. He finds
fulfillment, not through his work, but through this
romantic, intense love affair that he is not allowed to
have. He thinks about her all the time, it is a yearning
for fulfillment through another person, and we can see
how self destructive that is, for it is fulfillment through
another person whom he can't really have and who is keeping
him at bay, anyway. Such wounded individuals are incredibly
challenging to think about and play."

Roache is also attracted to the film's exploration of
what love can mean. "It is so very interesting in the
film it is seen as something that can be very generous
act, in whick one person can really give to another, but
at the same time is also about having and taking. It
examines just how individuals can be destroyed by that.
That is what makes it so profound-"