Anton Yelchin's Best Movie & TV Roles Outside Of Star Trek
In 2016, the world was shocked and saddened to learn that "Star Trek" actor Anton Yelchin had died after a freak car accident at the age of 27. Prior to his tragic death, he was one of the most promising actors of his generation, having not only turned in a string of acclaimed performances but also starred in a strikingly wide variety of independent films in his final few years.
Consequently, while the actor may be best known for his scene-stealing turn as fan-favorite character Lieutenant Pavel Chekov in J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" reboot and its sequels, he ultimately gave many of his best performances outside the confines of the USS Enterprise, whether he was proving his versatility in a pair of very different vampire flicks, breaking viewers' hearts in a low-budget but deeply felt love story, or fighting against on-screen neo-Nazis. With that in mind, here are five of Yelchin's best non-"Star Trek" roles.
Byrd Huffstodt on Huff
Anton Yelchin scored his first recurring TV role when he was cast as Byrd Huffstodt on the Showtime original series "Huff," an Emmy-winning drama starring Hank Azaria as successful psychiatrist Dr. Craig "Huff" Huffstodt. Huff begins to experience a midlife crisis that creates tension between him and numerous people in his life, including his wife, Beth (Paget Brewster), and his son, Byrd.
While Yelchin was never officially nominated for his work on "Huff," that doesn't mean his turn as Byrd wasn't memorable. On the contrary, his performance on the series ended up being an early example of his impressive emotional range as an actor — Byrd isn't just a smart, occasionally rebellious teenage boy, but one who feels real concern over the state of his parents' relationship.
Despite being just a teenager when he was cast, Yelchin managed to bring all the adolescent and mature shades of his character to life with the level of vulnerability that the role required, all of which is to say that while "Huff" only ran for 26 episodes, it proved to be a fine showcase for the actor, whose career was just starting to come together when it premiered in 2004.
Jacob Helm in Like Crazy
Anton Yelchin received widespread praise for his performance in 2011's "Like Crazy," directed and co-written by Drake Doremus. The romantic drama focuses on American college student Jacob Helm (Yelchin) and British exchange student Anna Gardner (Felicity Jones), whose relationship is tested when Anna is banned from returning to America after overstaying her student visa in order to spend more time with Jacob. The film's raw exploration of the fragility of young love relies heavily on Yelchin's and Jones' performances, with their characters falling for each other and then inevitably drifting apart when they are forced to live separate lives.
Fortunately, both actors prove to be totally capable of meeting the drama's demands. Indeed, not only did "Like Crazy" give Jones the breakout role of her career, but it also cemented Yelchin's place as one of the world's most exciting up-and-coming performers. Together, the two stars prevent the film from ever becoming an overly soapy romantic melodrama, with Yelchin quietly but confidently steering all of his scenes, refusing to be overtaken by its waves of romantic yearning and heartbreak. Over a decade after its release, his performance serves as a perfect example of the kind of tender, assured work that he was uniquely great at turning in.
Charley Brewster in Fright Night
In 2011, Anton Yelchin starred as the unsuspecting lead in director Craig Gillespie's contemporary remake of the cult horror classic "Fright Night." The film follows Yelchin's Charley Brewster as he begins to suspect that his handsome, seemingly friendly neighbor, Jerry (Colin Farrell), is secretly a vampire preying on the innocent civilians of their quiet suburban community. Before long, Charley realizes not only that his suspicions are correct but also that he'll have to take a stand against Jerry if he wants to protect the ones he loves from his neighbor's wrath.
While Farrell and David Tennant give particularly memorable turns as the film's central vampire and a celebrity expert who may or may not know the secret to killing him, it's Yelchin's likable, lightly comedic performance as Charley that anchors "Fright Night" and prevents it from devolving into sheer goofiness. The actor brings his trademark sensitivity to a role that, in less capable hands, might have come across as one-note. In doing so, he ensures that there's a real human heart beating at the center of "Fright Night" — no matter how many others get stabbed over the course of its story.
Ian in Only Lovers Left Alive
Two years after he starred as a young vampire hunter in 2011's "Fright Night," Anton Yelchin gave a very different but similarly impressive supporting performance in writer-director Jim Jarmusch's gothic romance, "Only Lovers Left Alive." The film stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as a pair of vampire lovers whose centuries-long romance is threatened by the ceaseless passage of time and the sudden arrival of Swinton's Eve's sister. Yelchin, meanwhile, appears in the moody drama as Ian, an unsuspecting human whose ability to acquire vintage guitars and other odd trinkets allows him to maintain a close relationship with Hiddleston's Adam.
In a film where tone is everything, Yelchin gives a delicately funny, heartfelt performance as Ian, who wants to spend as much time around the trio of vampires as he can. The character is aloof and naive but also just cool enough for a perpetually brooding rockstar like Adam to believably want to hang out with him. Yelchin easily could have tried to match Hiddleston and Swinton's aggressively laidback, unbothered energies on-screen, but instead, he gave a performance that is alive and neurotic enough to feel genuinely unique in a movie overflowing with dry wit and nonchalance. In doing so, he makes it easy for viewers to accept Ian as one of the film's few human characters.
Pat in Green Room
One of Anton Yelchin's most memorable performances is in writer-director Jeremy Saulnier's acclaimed 2015 thriller, "Green Room." The actor stars as Pat, the bassist of a punk band that gets held captive in a remote venue's green room after witnessing a murder orchestrated by one of the members of the show's NSBM headliner. As the film's skinhead villains, led by Patrick Stewart's merciless Darcy Banker, begin to pick off the members of Pat's band in a shockingly brutal fashion, he and his fellow survivors are forced to fight for their lives in a situation that seems increasingly nightmarish the more time passes.
At the start of "Green Room," it seems unlikely that Pat will make it out of the film's eponymous setting alive. The character's insecurities and trusting, pacifistic nature paint him as someone who is thoroughly incapable of defending himself, especially against neo-Nazi murderers. However, the longer he is hunted, the more Pat begins to believe in himself and his chances of survival, with Yelchin's performance completely selling that transformation.
The actor doesn't just bring real emotional gravity to Pat's arc throughout the film, though. He also manages to make viewers accept his character as a survivor without changing his entire personality and demeanor. Indeed, Yelchin plays Pat in the final act of "Green Room" the same way he plays him at the beginning of the film — the only difference being that he has stopped letting fear inform his every decision. That's where the true brilliance of Yelchin's performance in "Green Room" lies, and it's why the film's bloody climax lands with as much weight as it does.
Tim in Thoroughbreds
The last movie Anton Yelchin was in before he died was writer-director Cory Finley's directorial debut, "Thoroughbreds," starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Lily and Olivia Cooke as Amanda, a pair of teenage girls who reconnect after years apart and quickly begin to plot the murder of Lily's stepfather. In order to pull off the crime, Lily and Amanda decide to blackmail Tim (Yelchin), a local drug dealer who has already spent some time in jail, into doing it for them.
While the film gives all three actors the chance to shine, Yelchin makes a particularly lasting impression with his performance. Given the full journey that his character takes, it would have been easy for him to play Tim as a supporting figure who just gets steamrolled by the film's leads, but he brings enough complexity to the role that Tim ultimately emerges as a compelling counter to the teens — though introduced as nothing more than a sleazy, untrustworthy criminal, he shows that he has a stronger moral compass than either Lily or Amanda.
Over the course of its running time, the film's characterization of Tim softens and deepens in unexpected ways, but Yelchin's performance ensures that the character never loses his initial edge. In other words, the actor does something in "Thoroughbreds" that he repeatedly did throughout his career: bring extra dimensionality to a role that might have otherwise been forgettable in another performer's hands.