FAIRBANKS — With a small role in the Academy Award winning film “L.A. Confidential,” and larger parts in TV shows such as “The X-Files and Nash Bridges,” Scott Eberlein had a promising acting career in the late ’90s.

Then 9/11 happened, and the next day Eberlein left it all behind to enlist in the Army.

“To pursue something as trivial as acting was something I had taken for granted all my life, I didn’t think twice about it,“ said Eberlein, now a captain stationed at Fort Wainwright with the Stryker brigade’s 1st battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment. “When I saw it could be taken away in a moment, that spoke volumes to me.”

Though his brother had a brief stint in the Marines in the ’80s, a career in the military seemed unlikely for Eberlein before the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Originally from Los Angeles, Eberlein split his time in high school between acting and playing football. Like many youths, he hoped to make it as a pro football player, but after a couple years of college ball he realized that was unlikely.

He decided to focus more on acting, graduating from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1990 with a bachelor of fine arts degree. Three years later, he received a master of fine arts degree from the University of California Los Angeles.

It was difficult for him to find acting gigs, and he decided to move to Nashville to pursue acting there.

But a car accident on the way east put Eberlein back in L.A. with his parents. During the recovery period, he gained focus and came up with a better plan to promote himself.

He landed roles in stage productions with John Goodman and Robert Hays, best known for his role in “Airplane!”

But Eberlein got the most offers after his appearance in 1997’s “L.A. Confidential.” As a sheriff’s deputy, he only had five lines of dialogue and a close-up, but it was enough to get him noticed.

Unfortunately, most of the jobs he got weren’t for the most memorable movies. Eberlein readily admits he’s been “in some of the worst movies ever made.”

Stints on short-lived sitcoms such as “Malibu, California” and “The Army Show” didn’t exactly set ratings records either.

On “The Army Show,” Eberlein played a sergeant with an Expert Infantry Badge, a difficult-to-obtain mark designating proficient infantry skills, though in 1998, he had no idea what that meant.

“Had I known what it meant I might not have worn it, but six years later I actually was an E-5 with an EIB,“ he said. “Talk about bizarre.”

While Eberlein was doing well with acting, he felt 9/11, which he calls his generation’s Pearl Harbor, was a call to action.

“I’m capable,“ he said. “Why should someone else’s son or daughter join?”

Despite enlisting at age 33, much older than the typical Army recruit, Eberlein had few problems with basic training since he had to stay in shape to get roles.

However, few other skills from the stage have transferred to his career in the Army.

“In acting, it’s all about me and how I can make myself into a product that’s going to be marketable,” Eberlein said. “The Army is about coming together as a team and accomplishing a mission.”

While Eberlein still gets residuals from some of his parts, he’s left acting behind for the most part. He had a role earlier this year in the Fairbanks Drama Association’s production of “The Time of Your Life,” but that’s probably the last time he’ll be on stage or in front of a camera for awhile.

“The acting itself is all great, and I’m sure it looks even better when you’re at the Academy Award ceremony, but when you’re looking for bagels beyond Noah’s Bagels, it’s time to look for another job,” he said.

And while Eberlein enlisted because of 9/11, it’s the bonds he’s made in the Army and the friends he’s lost in battle that keep him there.

“I think there are things I can do that might help keep soldiers alive. I think I’m that kind of person that will go the extra step to make sure the soldier is ready to go,” he said.

“That’s what we’re all about, to make sure kid is ready out there and his survivability is the best it can be.

I joined because of 9/11. I stay because I see there’s a need for people like me.”

Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at 459-7545.

Name: Capt. Scott Eberlein

Age: 42

Family: Wife, Renner Eberlein

Pets: Two golden retrievers and Hammer, a three-legged force protection dog he adopted while stationed in Iraq