ALEX Ferns makes an immediate impression as he strolls in the cafe area of the Citizens Theatre, and it's nothing to do with the fact he's dressed like a hobo for his part in an upcoming drama.

He's likeable and warm, and within minutes he's more than happy to share tales about why he desperately wanted to become Jimmy Boyle, about how he copes with the lack of meritocracy in the business, and how he believes an EastEnders psychopath should behave.

First up though, he's talking about his role in True West, the classic Sam Shepard play, the story of rivalry between two estranged brothers who have reconnected.

Austin (Eugene O'Hare) is a Hollywood screenwriter working on a screenplay while house sitting for his mother and his older brother, Lee (Alex) turns up out of the blue.

But Austin doesn't want his wild, house-burgling brother around, in case he wrecks his chances. Lee however reveals he has more to him than misanthropy; he comes up with a script idea that captures the producer's imagination.

"It's got everything," says Alex of the play. "It's about two brothers going up against each other, it's the Old West against the New West, pioneering spirit versus complacency, it's about madness and sanity.

"The two brothers aren't Cain and Abel, they're actually two sides of the same coin. But one wears the mask of the writer, but the other is the character who wears the mask of the cowboy.

"It's the one play I've wanted to do since drama school."

Alex attended drama school in Cape Town. He was 11 when his parents emigrated to South Africa. However, growing up in Lennoxtown, he'd already revealed acting potential.

"I was as wild as the heather back them," he says, grinning. "But after I appeared in a school production of Pilgrim's Progress as a 10-year-old, one of my teachers at St Machan's, Mrs Meechan, wrote my mother a letter, suggesting 'Although young Alex is a terror, he has this dramatic flair that I think could stand him in good stead if he pursues it.'"

Yet, Alex, who's married to South African-born actress Jennifer Woodburne, didn't set out to make Mrs Meechan's prophecy come true. Instead, he tried to keep his dad happy by becoming an electrician - but didn't have the internal wiring for the job.

After conscription into the South African army where he was a 'rubbish' soldier, he bumped into an am dram teacher who hired Alex for a play, then coaxed him into university, with his fees and digs paid for.

He was on his way to acting success, wide acclaim and awards. (He won the Best Actor at the National Theatre Awards 1997). But what sets Alex apart from most is he has character and life experience to bring truth to his roles, whether starring as Commander Martin Brooke in ITV series Making Waves, indie film hits Man Dancin' or as the evil Trevor Morgan in EastEnders.

"The way I approached the role was to think as a psychopath would," he says.

"I believed Little Mo was in the wrong. If she made a mistake she deserved to have her face in her dinner, or be made to eat off the carpet. I'd go to work in the morning convinced Trevor was happy, until other people made him angry."

It worked. Alex became the nation's best soap baddie. But he wasn't happy contained in the soap factory.

It's not a surprise to learn he's recently been appearing in a little theatre in Finsbury Park in London in Casualites, a no-holds-barred play about soldiers in Afghanistan. It had an audience tinier than Trevor Morgan's human compassion, but he loved the challenge of good work.

For the same reason, he over-ruled his agent when it came to playing Jimmy Boyle in theatre play The Hard Man, two years ago.

The father-of-two boys was so convincing, you believed had he been given a hammer and nails at any time during the play, real hands and feet would have been nailed to hardwood floor.

"My agent didn't want me to do it," he recalls. "But I thought 'How can you not play Jimmy Boyle'. And it was great to do, but draining. Matinees in particular were tough."

Honesty shines through in conversation. He admits it gets him down when major acting roles are thrown in the most improbable directions.

"Anyone who says it doesn't is lying. You think 'Not him again'. But sometimes it's about many things rather than acting."

"The way I deal with it is that I just think everything has been leading towards this play. And hopefully, this play will lead me to the next."

While his current stage character Lee wears a mask to hide from reality, Alex admits that's what actors do on a daily basis.

"It is," says Alex, smiling. "Some wonder how we can become different characters, but I say to people 'How can you sit in an office all day?'

"This job isn't always easy. It's often been tough, financially. But I don't know what else I could do."

He adds, breaking into a wide grin: "I think if I'd stayed in Scotland I'd have ended up in the nick. I'd have stolen something or whatever just to stay in with the crowd. So acting the vagrant mentalist or whatever just suits me fine."

He adds, in reflective tone: "You know, I'm going to write to Mrs Meechan. And tell her 'Thanks'."

n True West, October 29 to November 16.