A man who watched from the wings as his brother performed in Hollywood movies has joined him in a starring role in an American TV series.

Ross Ritchie, 38, from Lowestoft, has followed his younger brother Reece's journey for the last 15 years, from early stage performances in London to acting as the love interest in Peter Jackson's film 'The Lovely Bones' and later starring alongside Dwayne Johnson in the 2014 box office success 'Hercules'.

Little did Ross know that one day the call of 'Lights! Camera! Action!' would also be for him.

But last year, the producers of 'The Outpost', a fantasy-adventure series being filmed in Serbia, were looking for someone to act as the brother of the character played by Reece.

Lowestoft Journal: Reece and Ross Ritchie, brothers from Lowestoft, are both starring in American TV series 'The Outpost'.Reece and Ross Ritchie, brothers from Lowestoft, are both starring in American TV series 'The Outpost'. (Image: Reece Ritchie)

"They knew I had a brother and asked if he would be interested in taping for the part," said Reece, who has been starring in the third season of the show.

"The first thing you learn in acting is you say 'yes', and you learn later. I said I'm sure he's up to it."

Ross, whose day job is freelance education consultant, said: "I made an audition tape and on the back of that they gave me the role.

"The next thing I was flying out to the location in Serbia, getting fitted out for costumes."

His UK TV debut was Tuesday night (February 2).

"I was literally dropped into a fully working film set, with multiple cameras, props, big sets, other actors, and when they call 'action', you've got to convince the people watching you're for real.

"With that comes intense amount of adrenalin and excitement," said Ross.

"Then you've got the surreal nature of being opposite your brother, they call action and you're yelling at your brother."

And while Reece might have been a hard act to follow, Ross has been praised for his performance.

Reece said: "It's really bizarre, I've been doing this for 15 years now professionally, and you can share your experiences with your family but they never really have a full understanding, because the world is so foreign.

"The biggest boon for me to having Ross on set is we now share a common experience in an uncommon landscape."

'The Outpost' is shown on Tuesdays at 9pm on ScyFy.