Pirates of the Caribbean actor joins fight against Isis in Syria
British actor Michael Enright turns his back on Hollywood to help Kurdish People’s Protection Units take on Islamic State extremists
A British actor who has had minor roles in Hollywood films has joined Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State in Syria.
Michael Enright, who played a deckhand in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, appeared in a video released by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG.
The footage, posted on YPG’s Facebook page on Tuesday, shows him in a trench with other fighters firing an assault rifle. “Isis are dangerous to every human being alive,” Enright says. He calls for weapons and medical aid for the Kurdish fighters, describing them as “my havals”, Kurdish for comrades.
YPG has emerged as a key fighting force against Isis in Syria. With the help of US-led coalition air strikes, it has helped liberate dozens of towns and villages in the north-east of the country.
Dozens of other westerners are also fighting alongside the Kurds in Syria and Iraq.
In an interview with the Dubai-based Al-Aan TV, Enright said he became aware of Isis when the extremist group “cut off an American journalist’s head”. But he said the “straw that broke the camel’s back” occurred in February when the group released a video showing a captured Jordanian pilot being burned alive.
Enright says he is willing to die for the cause. “I didn’t come here to play games – I wrote to all my friends and family because I might not see them again,” he told Al-Aan.
The actor also played minor roles in Knight and Day and Old Dogs, according to the IMDB online entertainment database.
THE GUARDIAN