People harbor all kinds of reasons for becoming an actor. But for Domhnall Gleeson it proved a way of overcoming his timidity.

“I was pretty shy growing up” he says, “and probably stamped my feelings down a lot, which I didn't have to because I grew up in a very expressive family. But for whatever reason I would sort of keep a lot of stuff inside and was scared of aspects of myself.”

Gleeson should’ve known better as he’s the son of well-known actor Brendan Gleeson, famous for roles in “Braveheart,” the “Harry Potter” series and “In Bruges.”

“The great gift that acting gives you is it forces you to take on other ways of being,” says Gleeson, 43, in his Irish lilt, “other ways of connecting to people, other ways of looking at people, including yourself.

“It's not that it's acting as therapy,” he insists, “but when I feel like I'm part of a story that's well-told, it's a very special feeling, and so it doesn't get old in that way.”

One of those stories well-told is his new film, “The Incomer,” opening in theaters Friday, Sept. 25. Gleeson plays a bureaucrat assigned to evict a pair of eccentric siblings from their remote dwelling in northern Scotland. As the dreaded “incomer” he learns more than expected from the daffy duo and slowly the tables are turned.

This folkish fairy tale is branded a comedy. About that Gleeson remarks, “Comedies can be heartfelt, and comedies can be incredibly meaningful. And just because they're funny doesn't take that away. So, I do think in its bones, it is a comedy. But it matters to me in a way that some comedies don't.”

Gleeson knows something about comedy that matters. He’s also starring in Peacock’s droll sitcom, “The Paper,” in which he plays the enthusiastic managing editor who inherits the clueless staff of a struggling newspaper.

As a kid, Gleeson says, he observed first-hand the ups and downs of showbiz from his father’s career. But he says his parents never discouraged him from joining the “family business.” “Like, ‘If you want to try something, the only way to know is to try it.’ And they were that way with myself and my (three) brothers ... Leading by example is better than giving advice, and my father can do both very well. But he's led by example pretty consistently.”

At first Gleeson says he wanted to write and direct. “Then I read this Martin McDonagh script (“The Lieutenant of Inishmore”) and it was so funny and was so exactly my sense of humor. Gosh, it made me, I think, want to be an actor.

“And then I got to be in it. I auditioned for it. I got it. I did it. It was a play in the West End and then on off-Broadway and Broadway. I ended up for a year of my life, and I think it just dragged me out of myself. It was an insane, unlikely, lucky gift that came my way.”

But after the success of that play, parts dried up, recalls Gleeson. “My struggling days came in a very odd way. I wouldn't describe them as my ‘struggling’ days, but the days that were the hardest early on were when I came back from doing that play, which was very successful and was nominated for Tonys and felt like a massive break. And it was a massive break being on Broadway and all this sort of stuff. And I came home after that and was unemployed for quite a while.

“I was very lucky that I could continue to live with my parents. So I wasn't out of a home, and there was always food on the table. So, I was very lucky in that regard. And not everybody is so fortunate. But the lack of work and my lack of ability to get work for myself frightened me. And I realized how precarious it is trying to make a living as an actor. And it was just a lot of trying to get things, a lot of NOT getting things because I wasn't good enough yet. And then finally finding things from people who believed in me enough to cast me.”

In spite of 20 years in show business and his multiple triumphs (a Tony and Critics Choice nomination), Gleeson confesses he’s still shy. “When you do press or when you go to a dinner party, sometimes you’ve just got to put on a mask, you know what I mean? You’ve just got to come up with your own mask and stick it on and get on with things.”

BritBox reups crime-solving couple

BritBox has resurrected Agatha Christie’s crime solving couple “Tommy & Tuppence,” for an updated version of their sleuthing deeds. There’s no mention of the original TV version “Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime” which took place in the ‘20s as Christie wrote it, and starred Francesca Annis and James Warwick in this version from the ‘80s.

This new six-part series stars Antonia Thomas and Josh Dylan now depicted as ex’s (not a married couple) who fall in love while solving villainous crimes. A 2015 version starred Jessica Raine and David Walliams as the famous pair who are enmeshed in a world of espionage.

Raine, who went on to star in “Call the Midwife,” tells me. “There were many times I tried to go to drama school and got rejected. One year I got rejected from all of them without getting a recall, and that was really tough. So, I went away and taught English in Thailand for a while. I wanted to think about whether this should be the thing I wanted to do. I thought I’d give it one or two more years,” she says.

“Then I came back and tried again, and every single drama school I applied for rejected me and I thought, ‘Oh, my God, this isn't going to work.’ The very last drama school I applied for was RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art).

“It was at the end, and having been rejected (by all the others) I thought, ‘If I didn’t get in there, I'm not going to get in here.’ And something clicked with RADA. I liked them and they liked me, and off I went. One of the best days of my life was finding out I got into RADA.”

Jeff Corwin walks on the wild side

He’s been off-the-grid for a while, but conservationist and TV host Jeff Corwin is back prowling the secrets of North Carolina’s wildlife for television. Titled “Jeff Corwin’s Southern Wild,” the series will explore the wild places and interesting people that make up the state and much of its natural wildlife.

The series will air on ABC stations across the U.S. on Saturday mornings, beginning Oct. 3. Times vary, so check your local listings. This may be one show you can feel comfortable about letting your kids watch on Saturday mornings, a relief from the strident cartoons.

Corwin will range from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic coast as he encounters bats and salamanders, black bears, alligators and sea turtles. He’ll take viewers inside wildlife rescue and conservation efforts happening in real-time.

His love for the outdoors began when he was a kid, he says. “I had my hands in every stone wall; every place I could find bugs and snakes and frogs. We had a pond in our backyard, and I spent a lotta time in the pond looking for things — from the age of 9 to the age of 20. I had a bedroom full of snakes and cages and tanks.”

My mom would frisk me every time I would come in the house to see if there were any little critters in my pockets.”

Zeta-Jones stars in thriller

Catherine Zeta-Jones is back starring in the thriller “Kill Jackie,” premiering on AMC+ Oct. 2. She plays a comfortable and successful art dealer when she learns that a pack of hit men have been hired to assassinate her.

She launches a daring plan to take down the killers before they take her down. Based on Nick Harkaway’s neck-turning novel, “The Price You Pay,” the eight episodes will air weekly after the premiere.

“I was hyperactive as kid,’ she tells me, “so I took a dancing class. When I was 15 I had a chance to get into a professional production and get a work permit. So I left school and went to London and started doing theater and just continued.

“My parents had big discussions with the teachers and everything. But my parents were really cool, they didn't want me to turn around in 20 years and say, ‘My life would've been different if you’d only let me go.’ They didn’t want that on their shoulders. So with a few rules, they let me go — rules like ‘Don’t take drugs, don't drink.’”

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