THEY say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and that is certainly true of Brian Gleeson.

The second youngest son of Brendan, who had starred in the film In Bruges(and not to be confused with elder brother Domhnall who stars in JJ Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens released later this year) is set to light up our screens on BBC Scotland two-part drama Stonemouth.

Based on the novel by the late Scottish author Iain Banks, the rite of passage tale is set in a fictional Aberdeenshire village.

It marks the first Banks work to be adapted since his death from cancer in 2013, aged 59.

The storyline centres on the character of Stewart Gilmour, who returns home for his best friend's funeral, two years after being run out of town.

Christian Cooke, best known for Magic City, The Promise and Trinity, has the lead role as Gilmour with Line Of Duty star Charlotte Spencer as his former girlfriend Ellie Murston. Peter Mullan plays Don Murston, the father of Ellie and formidable head of Stonemouth's most notorious criminal family. Fellow Scots include Gary Lewis, Sharon Small and Joy McAvoy.

Gleeson, meanwhile, has been cast as the brooding Powell Imrie, whom he describes as "the righthand man" of Mullan's character. It is Imrie who is dispatched to set out the conditions of Gilmour's return to Stonemouth.

The Dublin-based actor says that while he hadn't read Banks's books beforehand, he was familiar with the late author's reputation.

"I know how he is thought of everywhere and in Scotland, so I hope we do him justice," he says.

Brian, 27, originally had his eye on another role in Stonemouth.

"I flew to England to audition for the main character and they said 'You're not quite right for that role, maybe think about Powell and you can keep your own accent if you want,'" he recalls.

"I wouldn't have minded giving the Scottish accent a go but it made more sense for the character in terms of giving him that feeling of being somewhat exotic and from a different part of the world."

Could he have pulled off a passable Scottish accent had it been called for? "I would have given it my all," he says, is his delectable Irish brogue.

"I'm sure it would have been fine. It was Kahleen Crawford, the casting director, who said that, because we don't know where he is from, it might be interesting to have one guy among the gang who is like Mowgli or something.

"It just gives him a different flavour and I was happy we went with the Irish accent in the end."

Gleeson decided at a fairly early age that he would pursue a career in acting.

"I loved plays in school," he says.

"My father is an actor as well so I used to look to him.

"I had always enjoyed playing characters and dressing up, but it wasn't until I got to school and I started getting on stage for plays that I got the bug.

"It takes a long time to start getting seen and building stuff up. It was a long road and still is."

His father, Brendan, was something of a late arrival to the world of acting, the former teacher only landing his first film role in his mid-thirties.

He was famously told by a Hollywood agent that he would never be a star because he was too fat, too old, and not good-looking enough.

The 60-year-old has since gone on to carve a successful career in films such as Braveheart, Gangs Of New York, Troy, the Harry Potter films (as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody) and Calvary. He won an Emmy award in 2009 for the role of Winston Churchill in Into The Storm.

Brother Domhnall, meanwhile, has racked up a CV that includes playing Bill Weasley in Harry Potter as well as roles in Anna Karenina, Dredd, About Time, Frank and Unbroken. Not to forget that upcoming turn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Brian has been steadily building his own body of work including Snow White And The Huntsman, The Bachelor Weekend and The Eagle.

He starred opposite Mad Men's Jessica Pare (aka Megan Draper) in rom-com Standby which premiered at Cork Film Festival last November.

In the pipeline are the films History's Future and Tiger's Raid, both due out this year, and Black River.

He shared the screen with his father in the 2006 film, The Tiger's Tail, and more recently all three Gleeson men - Brendan, Brian and Domhnall - were united on stage for a four-week run of Enda Walsh's The Walworth Farce in Dublin earlier this year.

Refer to the Gleeson family acting dynasty, however, and Brian's discomfort is palpable.

"I don't know about that word," he says, voice suddenly gruff with embarrassment.

"I have found it a blessing and a curse. You get seen for certain things but not seen for other things, you know, 'Oh no, we don't want to be giving this to the sons.' So I suppose in total it evens out."

One of four sons of Brendan and Mary Gleeson, Brian grew up in the Irish seaside town of Malahide.

"It was a very happy childhood," he says.

"Malahide is lovely. It is a big shock going somewhere like London when you are first doing auditions. I always find myself coming back here to Ireland. I think that if you can work and travel, that is the best deal you can strike."

While he has recently spent time working in Los Angeles, he isn't keen to relocate there full time. "I don't really see the need to move unless it was all drying up here," he says. "I love being able to go away and then come back home."

He and brother Domhnall, 32, joined forces in a music video for Dublin band Squarehead's track 2025 last year which featured super-cute home video footage of the pair as youngsters.

His other brothers Fergus and Rory have dipped a toe in acting (both featured in one-off comedy sketch show, Immaturity For Charity, back in 2012), but aren't pursuing a career in the business.

"I leave them to themselves," Brian says.

His star may be in the ascent but Gleeson isn't the kind of man you would find turning up at every opening of an envelope.

"I keep myself to myself," he says.

"Dublin is small enough anyway so you don't need to be showing your face around."

Brian's father Brendan has imparted sage advice on how to survive the acting game.

"He said it is essential to keep yourself busy when you are not working," he explains. "That is an old one but always worth remembering. Most actors spend a lot of time out of work.

"Get yourself involved in some small theatre because you can put on theatre anywhere in the back of a pub. Have lots of hobbies. There are ups and downs, feast and famine, because you never know what's around the corner. It's about keeping yourself sane."

Stonemouth will be broadcast on BBC One Scotland on June 8 and 15 at 9pm