Linus Roache: roles at a glance
Linus Roache plays King Ecbert in the original Vikings series.
Selected work beyond Vikings includes RFK, Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Explore the biography below for the roles, career context and further references.
Reference: Vikings cast credit.
About Linus Roache
Roache’s career spans film, television and theatre. Priest brought him international attention, and his films include Batman Begins, The Namesake, Blind Flight and Pandaemonium. On television he portrayed Robert Kennedy in RFK and Michael Cutter in Law & Order and its Special Victims Unit spin-off. His stage work includes the Royal Shakespeare Company and productions of Richard II and Coriolanus opposite Ralph Fiennes.
Ecbert is one part of a career particularly rich in characters negotiating institutions and private convictions. Father Greg Pilkington in Priest and prosecutor Michael Cutter in Law & Order make rewarding comparisons with a king who treats conversation as political action. Batman Begins supplies a more concise introduction to his screen work as Thomas Wayne.
What to watch next from Linus Roache
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Priest
Start here for a central dramatic role as Father Greg Pilkington, with moral pressure rather than military power driving the story.
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Michael Cutter offers a sustained contemporary television role built around persuasion and institutional authority.
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A shorter but recognizable film role as Thomas Wayne.
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Selected screen credits
Playing King Ecbert: performance & interviews
Watching the performance
For a character-focused rewatch, watch how Ecbert makes hospitality serve negotiation. Roache’s court scenes invite attention to tone, listening and the gap between what a ruler offers and what he ultimately authorizes. Credits in the older broadcaster biography establish career context; its references to recently completed work do not describe the actor’s present schedule.
Linus Roache in Vikings
King Ecbert
Linus Roache portrays King Ecbert in Vikings.
Ecbert rules Wessex with patience, learning and a readiness to use the Vikings for his own expansion. His curiosity does not make him a trustworthy ally.
Follow the character’s journey, loyalties and place in the wider saga.
Explore King Ecbert’s storyLinus Roache: portrait & roles
Fan questions
Who plays Michael Cutter in Law & Order?
Linus Roache; HISTORY’s Vikings biography identifies that role alongside his portrayal of Ecbert.