Coronation Street legend Bill Roache’s son quit acting for shock career with a ‘manipulative tyrant’
A CORRIE star has swapped the screen for a shocking new job which may surprise fans.
Linus Roache is known for following in his father’s footsteps and joining him on the set of Coronation Street.
William Roache plays central character Ken Barlow on the ITV soap, and his eldest boy got a start in the industry by acting out the part of his on-screen son Peter Barlow.
Linus was the fourth actor to take on the role of Peter, and his stint came in 1975, when the character decided to leave Glasgow for the Royal Navy.
He then made a reappearance in the Barlow family in 2010, playing Ken’s long-lost son Lawrence Cunningham.
Linus’s career in acting took off and he ended up playing roles in larger films such as Batman Begins and The Wings of the Dove.
But then, just as suddenly, he stepped away from it all – to pursue life in a spiritual sect.
The former Corrie star moved to New York to help run a group called EnlightenNext.
At the time he shared: “I realised working as an actor alone wouldn’t make me happy. I needed to explore my spiritual side in more depth.”
The community he joined, which has been dogged by complaints of abuse, was started by Andrew Cohen in 1988.
It quickly expanded and gained an international following.
Linus met Andrew in 1994, and was impressed by his spiritual teachings.
He started to climb the ranks of EnlightenNext and was appointed as managing director at the New York offices in 2012.
The website for the sect claims it is a “global non-profit organisation dedicated to catalysing evolution in consciousness and culture”.
Linus previously shared his own thoughts on the organisation, saying: “I’ve looked at it solidly for three years and I don’t find anything weird about it. There’s a lot of meditation and question and answer dialogue and investigation with other people from all over the world.
“To sit and think about these things and just put acting and schmoozing away for a while is really good. This modern-day philosopher has managed to frame a spiritual path that fully meets the time in which we live.
“It’s the marriage of traditional enlightenment from the East with the Western scientific understanding of cosmic evolution and it shows a deeper meaning and purpose for the 21st century.”
Andrew Cohen has faced some controversy for starting the sect, with his own mum calling him an “unrecognisable tyrant” in a book she wrote where she accused him of manipulating people through spirituality.
However, it seems Linus’s late mum would likely have approved of his new path in life, as she was a hippy herself.
He opened up about his parents’ secret past as druids, saying: “Dad has always been a great influence on me. He has always stood up for spirit, staying true to his beliefs and I like to do the same with regard to my own beliefs, regardless of potential criticism or mockery.
“My parents were receptive to the emerging wave of spirituality in the Sixties and the way they embraced it opened me up to new dimensions. Mum read tarot cards and she and dad became druids for a while.
“I went to a couple of the ceremonies as a kid but wasn’t particularly into the ritual side of things. But I admire anybody who is seeking to find some real answers.”