Anton Yelchin: We Pay Tribute

On June 19, 2016, the world lost not only a beautiful person but an amazing actor. Anton Yelchin was only 27 years old when he passed, yet he was adored for the roles he’s portrayed and quickly became one of the most promising talents we’ve seen in years.

Anton Yelchin’s career started strong in 2001, when he was only twelve years old, and never slowed down. Some of his early roles were in Along Came a Spider and Hearts in Atlantis. Within a few years, he was featured in the films House of D, Alpha Dog, and Charlie Bartlett. These really showed Anton Yelchin’s acting chops and helped him gain attention, leading to his huge breakout role in 2009’s Star Trek reboot as the beloved Pavel Chekov. Within the same year, he starred as Kyle Reese in the fourth Terminator installment, Terminator Salvation.

In 2013, Anton Yelchin would not only reprise his role as Chekov in Star Trek Into Darkness, but he would also star in Odd Thomas, the film adaptation of Dean Koontz’s novel by the same name. His most recent release, Green Room, was very well-received by both critics and moviegoers. Always the hard worker, he has several films coming out throughout 2016, including Star Trek Beyond. Watching the film will be bittersweet for all of those who love him, without a doubt.

A few of us here at HorrorGeekLife.com want to convey what Anton Yelchin and his amazing career meant to us – as fans, moviegoers, and reviewers. We would love to hear your sentiments as well. Please feel free to share with us in comments or on social media.

Melissa: After seeing Anton Yelchin in Star Trek and Terminator Salvation, I was completely sold on him as an actor. When I heard that he would be portraying one of my favorite literary characters in Odd Thomas, I remember being beyond excited, knowing he’d perfect the role. As always, he didn’t let me down. I was fortunate to see an early screening of his recent film, Green Room, and review for another site. The film has gone through my mind many times fondly since viewing, especially Yelchin’s paintball speech towards the end of the film. Purchasing Green Room on Blu-ray in a few weeks has me both anxious and excited…there is no doubt tears will flow. 

Rarely does a celebrity’s death hit me this hard, but Anton Yelchin‘s certainly did. Such a tragic and senseless loss of life, but we should be grateful for the performances he’s left us with.

Brent: It didn’t really matter what role he took on, Anton Yelchin always had this undeniable likeability. He was the perfect fit for Chekov in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies, his portrayal of Odd Thomas was amazing, and the panic and anxiety of his character Pat in Green Room was spot on.  I’ve written my fair share of reviews for a few sites now, and writing a tribute about this man has, no doubt, been the most difficult.  Not because there isn’t much to say, but because I want to say it right.  From everything I’ve read about Anton, he seemed to research his roles and pick the characters that he could truly identify with.  I believe that is what allowed him to give such compelling performances time and again.  I would have liked to meet him in person.  

I held out hope that the news of his passing would turn out to be a hoax; I think I’m still hoping, even now.

Joseph: The first time I would have seen Anton Yelchin, without even realising, would have been his guest spot playing Cheryl’s nephew on Curb Your Enthusiasm. I saw the clip shared by a friend after the news broke and, in spite of everything, I couldn’t help laughing at his scenes infuriating Larry David by refusing to teach him the secrets behind a card trick. Like most people, though, I was properly introduced to his talents in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek reboot and he was effortlessly one of the strongest elements for me. Bringing the necessary humour and lovable charm to the character of Chekov, as well as his legitimate Russian background. It will be a bittersweet feeling when he brings that friendly performance to the screen for the final time this year.

His performance in the excellent genre film Green Room, though, is my own personal favourite. It was the first film. of hopefully many, that I reviewed for HGL. In large part to Anton’s performance, in turns softly spoken and ferocious, one that I will not soon forget. Looking at his filmography this morning, I realised that there is so much more of Anton out there that I am yet to enjoy and, while we will all surely be grateful for the work his gift has left us, the tragic fact that there won’t be years’ more to come is a hard one for his fans to bear.