British-born actor Michael Enright was leading a pretty comfortable life in Los Angeles, California, and his career was on the way up—with minor roles in blockbuster hits such as "Pirates of the Caribbean" and comedies like "Old Dogs" aside from roles in the television series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" and "Cold Case"—when something stirred inside him that made him abandon his showbiz career.
That was the time when he saw how the radical Islamic State jihadist group executed American journalist James Foley back in August 2014. After watching the execution video, Enright thought he had to do something about it. He decided to quit Hollywood in favour of Syria where he joined a Kurdish militia to personally take part in operations against the terrorist group.
"After I saw the cowardly way James Foley was killed, I knew I had to do something," Enright, 51, told FOX411. "And what was most poignant for me was that it was done by an Englishman – which is the exact opposite to how I feel toward Americans. I have such a deep sense of gratitude to the United States."
Enright traveled to Rojava or western Kurdistan in northern Syria earlier this year, where he trained for several weeks under the "Academy" training program of the Kurdish YPG. Aside from engaging in actual fighting, Enright is also tasked with taking pictures of everything he sees—from firefights to dead ISIS members being "eaten by dogs." Some of the dead ISIS fighters, the actor revealed, were just teenagers.
Because of his previous profession, Enright generated huge international attention, and some even questioned his motives, saying that he probably went to Syria not to fight the ISIS but to work on a movie script.
"I have no interest in turning my story into a movie. I am not writing a script. This is not about me. The emphasis should be this evil scourge called ISIS," said Enright.
In fact, Enright does not know when he will be coming back to LA, or if he'll be able to resume his life as an actor. "I don't care about being famous or any of that crap," he said. "I made a commitment to stay until ISIS is at least out of Rojava."
