It's a real-life drama for Carey Mulligan as her brother heads for Afghanistan

Last updated at 1:53 AM on 15th January 2012

Carey's brother is off to Afghanistan

Her new film Shame is centred around the damaged relationship between a brother and sister – but actress Carey Mulligan faces a drama of a different kind over her own sibling.

Handsome Oxford graduate Owain Mulligan, a captain in the British Army, was posted recently to Afghanistan, leaving 26-year-old Carey 'worried sick'.

Family friend Alex Kelly says: ‘Naturally the family are incredibly concerned. Owain is a fascinating individual. He taught himself Dari and Pashto, the official languages of Afghanistan, and he is now an intelligence officer.

'He didn’t tell us why his posting was brought forward suddenly but we found out later that it was because an Army colleague had been killed.'

Owain, 27, is also compiling a book about his war experiences.

‘When he was serving in Iraq, he sent back hundreds of emails to friends and family about what he was doing and how he had been affected,’ Alex added.

‘It was a funny and wry look at his life there and it gathered a cult following – now he is putting it all together in a book.’