During the recent AFI Dallas Inter­national Film Festival, you couldn’t walk through the host hotel without stumbling across a few movie stars. They hung out in the lobby, ate in the restaurants, and, it seemed, parked your car for you.

Of the many acting luminaries involved in the event, few have worked more in the past decade than Linus Roache. He’s an excellent actor who graces anything he’s in. His public recognition, however, has lagged behind his talent. So far.

Merchant Ivory Productions

Linus Roache and Nandita Das star in 'Before the Rains,' a morality tale set in 1930s India. Roache plays Henry Moores, a British aristocrat who has an affair with his Indian housekeeper (Das) while isolated from his wife and child.

He appeared at the festival in conjunction with his new project,  Before the Rains, an often heart-breaking morality tale set in 1930s India. He plays Henry Moores, an imperious British aristocrat who plans to construct his own road so he can farm tea and spices. While there, isolated from his wife and child, he begins an ill-fated affair with his Indian housekeeper.

Roache and his producer Doug Mankoff sat down for a few words about their new movie, one that, on the surface, looks like it would cause massive filming problems. Did it? Roache answered:

“It looked like it was going to be a nightmare, documenting this clash between two civilizations. It turned out to be one of the most glorious experiences ever.”

Mankoff chimed in that the “original shooting schedule was for 40 days, but we completed it in 34.” That helped, the producer admitted, because, he said, “No bond company would bond this at first. It was really, really risky for the investors.”

Roache said he was surprised at how smoothly the production went, particularly since the director, Santosh Sivan, also served as the cinematographer.

Was that disconcerting for the actor?

“At first, I thought, this isn’t going to work. But a sort of energy happened. It became sort of a marriage, and we could talk to each other easier,” he said.

Roache admitted to enjoying the Indian filming, something he had done before and had grown to like.

“It’s always an extra attraction to go to India. The opportunity to spend six weeks there was a no-brainer,” he said.

In the film, Henry Moores, a multi-dimensional character with a tortured inner life, finds himself in a hopeless tragedy, one brought on by his own failures and weaknesses. Was it difficult to capture such a flawed man and still make him sympathetic and realistic? Roache answered: “There was a lot of emphasis to make this character human. You can feel the dilemma of the character.”

Roache’s latest role has been as one of the semi-regulars on the TV show Law and Order, an exposure that will surely raise his American profile. He confesses he works hard to lose his British accent and speak more “Amer­i­can,” whatever that is.

In trying to speak like a lawyer from the Northeast, Roache says there’s one American accent he won’t try to copy. He turns to this Texas-born and raised writer and says:

“I certainly don’t want to sound like you.”

When the laughter dies, Roache and Mankoff shake hands and make their exits.