earned his diploma through a professional education course. This also allowed Eckhart time to enjoy a year of surfing in Hawaii and France, as well as skiing in the Alps. In 1988, Eckhart returned to the United States and enrolled as a film major at Brigham Young University–Hawaii, but later transferred to Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. He graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He also studied acting at the William Esper Studio. Career Early work While at Brigham Young University, Eckhart appeared in the Mormon-themed film Godly Sorrow, and the role marked his professional debut. At this time he met director/writer Neil LaBute, who cast Eckhart in several of LaBute's original plays. After graduating from BYU, Eckhart moved to New York City, acquired an agent, and took various occasional jobs, including bartending, bus driving, and construction work. His first television roles were in commercials. In 1994, he appeared as an extra on the television drama series Beverly Hills, 90210. Eckhart followed this small part with roles in documentary re-enactments (Ancient Secrets of the Bible: Samson), made-for-television movies, and short-lived programs like Aliens in the Family. In 1997, Eckhart was approached by Neil LaBute to star in a film adaptation of LaBute's stage play In the Company of Men. He played a frustrated white-collar worker who planned to woo a deaf office worker, gain her affections, then suddenly dump her. The film, his first feature to reach theaters, was critically well received, with Desson Howe of The Washington Post reporting that Eckhart is the "movie's most malignant presence" and that he "is in chilling command as a sort of satanic prince in shirtsleeves". In the Company of Men was a critical success, winning Best First Film for LaBute at the 63rd annual New York Film Critics Circle Awards. His performance won him the Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Debut Performance. The film was ranked as one of "The 25 Most Dangerous Movies" by Premiere magazine. The following year Eckhart starred in another LaBute feature, Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), as Barry, a sexually frustrated husband in a dysfunctional marriage. For the role Eckhart was required to gain weight. In 1999, he starred opposite Elisabeth Shue in Molly, a romantic comedy-drama in which he played the self-absorbed brother of an autistic woman who was cured by surgery. Eckhart also starred that year