“OH CRUMBS, I’ve got Captain Kirk’s jacket,” said Mike Beckingham, examining the hand tailored garment in the boot of his car.

It was the morning after a particularly big night out.

Ebley-based actor Mike had been at the red carpet premiere of the latest Star Trek film, Into Darkness, and had spent the evening chatting to Chris Pine, who plays Captain Kirk.

They had both been wearing grey jackets and Mike picked up the wrong one as he left.

“Goodness knows how much it was worth, considering it was Chris’s. Star Trek fans would have gone absolutely mad for it, but I would never ever have done anything other than give it back,” he said.

Mike attended the premiere last month as a guest of his famous older brother, Hot Fuzz actor Simon Pegg, who plays the role of Scotty in the film.

Over the years, Mike has been a regular at glitzy film premieres such as this, rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s biggest celebrities.

But now he looks set to be on the verge of film fame in his own right.

When Mike’s agent met American director Georgia Hilton, she was looking for a ‘cheeky chappie’ type character for her latest project, a movie called Subconscious.

He thought Mike would be perfect for the role and Georgia, once she had seen him in action, agreed.

“It’s about a history professor at the US Naval War College who is searching for the truth behind his grandfather’s disappearance in 1943,” said Mike.

“We’ve actually got a submarine parked in Massachusetts, which we’ll be filming in from August.”

I asked Mike if, in pursuing an acting career, it was helpful being Simon’s brother, or if it was difficult being in his shadow.

“You know what? It’s amazing. I could not ask for a better role model, or a better inspiration than Si. He’s there at the end of the phone if I need him and he’s always happy to give me advice.

“I think that I’m very fortunate that he’s in the position he’s in, because he’s got so much experience, and I get to meet people at film premieres, and network with people who are high up in the industry.

“Si doesn’t stumble out of night clubs at three o’clock in the morning and get photographed by the paparazzi, he conducts himself very professionally and keeps his feet firmly on the ground, and that’s how I want to be.”

There is a 12-year-age gap between the brothers but humour and filmmaking have always been sources of common ground.

“As kids, Simon and I were always playing with camcorders and making spoof films. We used our toys for props, and ketchup for blood.”

Sounds like the perfect apprenticeship.

Filming of Subconscious begins in America in August. Mike will be making a blog of his experiences, for further information follow: https://twitter.com/Becksmeister