Actor Michael Enright, 51, left Hollywood more than two months ago to join the Kurdish troops fighting the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS). Rather than mingling with A-list celebrities, the actor now sleeps on the floor in his uniform in northern Syria.
“ISIS need to be wiped completely off the face of this Earth…This is a call to humanity to obliterate them,” says the British actor, who moved to the U.S. at the age of 19. He has acted in films like Pirates of the Caribbean, Old Dogs, Knight And Day and the TV action series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
According to the Daily Mail, Enright first wanted to join the war against terror after 9/11, but friends talked him out of enlisting in the U.S. army back then.
But in January, after seeing the ISIS video of Jordanian pilot Muath Al-Kassasbeh being burned to death, Enright was motivated to leave for Syria. He did not tell his friends or family of his plans in case airport authorities tried to prevent him.
Enright joined the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the Sinjar region of northern Syria. He had no military training beforehand, but received some basic training and drills with the YPG, with whom he is still fighting.
“I came to suffer, I didn’t come here for a party,” he says. “So I’m okay, I’m ready to go.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Write to Naina Bajekal at naina.bajekal@time.com