Linus Roache: "We're all replaceable at the end of the day!"

So, Linus Roache, tell me: Weren’t you just a teeny bit nervous about being one of no fewer than three new cast members this season on the long-running Law & Order? I mean, if the ratings had suddenly started to tank, well…?

“That’s why I’m so grateful that Sam Waterston stayed in the show,” Roache says. “Because if he’d left, and I had to just replace him – that’s more than any man could bear. It’s beautiful that he’s gotten to evolve into a new position. I get to come in with a new energy – and get to spar and work with him. He’s been so brilliant with me. And he’s still teaching me the ropes.

“But I also knew that (L&O producer) Dick Wolf created something that’s bigger than any individual. The show is the star. I’m like the 24th or 25th replacement in the cast. But that proves it’s actually the formula of the show, and the story and the plot, that’s way more interesting than any one individual. We’re all replaceable at the end of the day. Which is humbling. And appropriate.”

Roache talks more about Law & Order – and about his new movie, Before the Rains (above) – in my Q&A in Friday’s Houston Chronicle.