 Born in California , he moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 13 , when his father relocated the family . Several years later , he began his acting career by performing in school plays , before moving to Sydney , Australia for his high school senior year . He left high school without graduating , but earned a diploma through an adult education course , and graduated from Brigham Young University , Utah in 1994 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film . For much of the mid @-@ 1990s , he lived in New York City as a struggling , unemployed actor . As an undergraduate at Brigham Young , Eckhart met director and writer Neil LaBute , who cast him in several of his own original plays . Five years later Eckhart made a debut as an unctuous , sociopathic ladies ' man in LaBute 's black comedy film , In the Company of Men ( 1997 ) . Under LaBute 's guidance he worked in the director 's films , Your Friends & Neighbors ( 1998 ) , Nurse Betty ( 2000 ) , and Possession ( 2002 ) . 
