Linus Roache plays the older Tom Burgess in My Policeman (Picture: Getty Images/Amazon)
Linus Roache has opened up on the beautiful portrayal of gay love in a time when homosexuality was illegal in 1950s Britain in My Policeman.
The actor, 58, plays the older Tom Burgess, a gay policeman who enters into a relationship with museum curator Patrick Hazlewood while being married to schoolteacher Marion Taylor, with the younger Tom being played by Harry Styles.
My Policeman switches between time periods, showing the younger Tom in the 1950s and the older Tom in the 1990s, and how the trio’s life evolved over the resulting four decades.
Linus told Metro.co.uk: ‘It’s a wonderful script, it’s a wonderful book and a great movie adaptation of the story.
‘I love movies that travel a lot over the journey of a life and in this one we travel between the 1950s and the 1990s, I think it adds a bigger scope of life to what it’s like to live with heartache and heartbreak over this time.’
He added: ‘I hope the audience have a little bit of gratitude and remembrance for the 1950s and that it was illegal to love who you wanted to love, and that maybe we live in better times even though we’ve got a way to go, and the pain of not being true to who you really are.
The gay love story is set in the 1950s and 1990s (Picture: Prime)
‘If that helps liberate people to be who they really are – the movie is quite rich and complex in it’s discussion of love, sexuality, romance and friendship.’
He revealed that his own understanding of Pride began when he was a child, thanks to his mother having queer friends.
Linus explained: ‘I hope I’ve always had an appreciation for [the Pride movement.] I grew up in the 60s and 70s and my mum was an actress and she had a lot of queer friends and it was sort of normal for me.
‘I don’t feel I had the same sort of prejudice but I appreciate it more and more, having gay friends, and what a struggle its been and it’s still an ongoing battle.
Harry Styles plays the younger version of Tom Burgess (Picture: Amazon Prime Video / BACKGRID)
‘But I believe in progress and I see cultural evolution and change and this movie is a testament to that.’
While he believes in the importance of representation on screen, Linus doesn’t think queer or straight roles should be limited to actors with the same sexual orientation as the character.
He explained: ‘I’m with Rupert [Everett, who plays the older Patric Hazlewood] on this. Rupert is gay, he says “I don’t want it to be just queer actors to pay queer parts otherwise I can’t play straight parts!”
‘I’m an actor, Tom is character who is trapped and unable to express his gayness. I felt comfortable doing that. Rupert’s got a good line on that one!’
My Policeman will be released in cinemas from October 21 and will be available to stream on Amazon Prime from November 4.
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The film centres around gay love when it was illegal in Britain.