[[NOTE - This segment is numbered out of order of appearance on the TWIT show because it was inserted before the Kiaphet Ammansor segment 195 thanks to the untimely death of this actor]]
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Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we honor the memory of Anton Yelchin, who tragically died this week at the age of 27, by looking at some of his best work as Chekov in the Abramsverse as well as his other acting work.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp196
Anton Viktorovich Yelchin was born in 1989 in Leningrad, USSR. His parents were successful professional figure skaters and his grandfather played professional soccer, but he found his passion at a young age in acting after his family emigrated to the U.S. This earned him a first appearance at age 10 as a guest actor on the TV show ER, followed closely by one of his best roles as Bobby Garfield, the 11-year old child who centers in the movie Hearts of Atlantis alongside Anthony Hopkins. Here's one clip from his award-winning performance as a child actor:
Yelchin - There's got to me more to it than that.
Hopkins - Yeah there is.
Yelchin - So what's the real job then?
Hopkins - Look out...for low men.
After a few years of mostly television roles, Yelchin got his next and probably biggest break by winning the role of Chekov in the Star Trek reboot of 2009. Less than 20 years old at the time, his youth and exuberance stood out in multiple places despite being just one of a large ensemble cast:
Leonard 'Bones' McCoy: Wait a minute, kid. How old are you?
Pavel Chekov: Seventeen, sir.
Leonard 'Bones' McCoy: Oh... oh, good, he's seventeen.
Spock: Doctor...Mr. Chekov is correct.
Aside from Star Trek, the most critical acclaim for Yelchin likely came in 2011 when he starred alongside Felicity Jones as the romantic leads in the movie Like Crazy. This Sundance Film Festival favorite also saw Yelchin be tempted by another character played by Jennifer Lawrence before she started her rise to super stardom in X-Men and The Hunger Games, but he ends up back with Jones's character in the end.
Yelchin - Yeah I'll see you in half an hour.
Jones - Yeah I'll see you in half an hour.
Yelchin - I'll see you in a couple days. I'll get there for you.
Since 2011, Yelchin has appeared in other roles such as the title character of Odd Thomas, a movie based on a good Dean Koontz book series; as Chekov in Star Trek Into Darkness and the upcoming Star Trek Beyond, as well as some animated features. Although I have a soft spot for his portrayal of Odd Thomas, here's another favorite quote from Into Darkness in the role we all were becoming most accustomed to for Yechin:
Kirk: Mr. Chekov, you've been shadowing Mr. Scott, you are familiar with the engineering systems of this ship?
Chekov: Affirmative, sir.
Kirk: Good. You're my new Chief. Go put on a red shirt.
Chekov: Aye sir.
His remaining works other than Beyond include movies titled Rememory, We Don't Belong Here, Porto, and Thoroughbred. Unlike many of the current ensemble crew, Yelchin came into this Chekov role as largely unknown as an adult actor. However, he stood out and made the role his own, and he will be sorely missed if this crew continues on after this third Abramsverse movie.
In a year where so many stars are passing away, it just figures Star Trek would lose one. What's most unfortunate is that it's one of the youngest stars, who leaves us before his prime and even before the original Chekov actor Walter Koenig, despite being more than 50 years younger than Koenig. In mourning this loss, Koenig says it best when he gives condolences to the parents, as he also lost a son in a tragic accident years ago.
Rest in peace Anton Yelchin. And grim reaper, please take a vacation for the rest of the year.
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