iamtribblesome

While creatively Star Trek Beyond was perhaps the most satisfying entry in the rebooted film series, its release was also in some ways overshadowed by the tragic death of Anton Yelchin, who had portrayed Pavel Chekov.

By the age of 27, Yelchin had already amassed a variety of film credits, including Hearts In Atlantis, Alpha Dog, Fierce People, Charlie Bartlett, Middle Of Nowhere, Terminator Salvation, the remake of Fright Night, and Like Crazy. He portrayed Chekov in Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness and, of course, Star Trek Beyond. He will next be represented by the Guillermo del Toro TV series Trollhunters, for which he provided the voice of Jim.

In Star Trek Beyond, the starship Enterprise is destroyed by an enemy hellbent on vengeance against Starfleet. Scattered on an alien world, the crew must come together to not only save themselves, but the galaxy as a whole.

The following unpublished interview with Anton Yelchin was conducted on the afternoon of Thursday 16 June of this year, just three days before his passing.

At the Star Trek fan event back in May, Zachary Quinto pointed out that it’s been about ten years since you guys first went before the cameras on Trek. Is that strange at all for you to consider that it’s been that long already?

Yes, actually, it has almost been a decade. You see everyone between the films a little bit, but then it’s wild to think that there’s a feature every three or four years. It’s such an odd thing, you know? Then go back to it and get right back into the same thing. It’s a very fascinating and odd experience. But it’s a great feeling. I love it, actually, because you grow in the interim. Let’s not say grow, but you definitely evolve and change and transform in the interim, and then seeing what you can bring to it anew is really interesting. You know, what else you can bring to these characters and what else you can do and new moments you can find. We started borrowing as much from the original performance … At least for me, I borrow as much from Walter Koenig as myself in this weird way. Not to sound like a complete egotist, it’s just that I end up going, “Okay, that’s something that I was doing. I should do that again.” Stuff like that. It’s an odd thing.

But the more you play it, doesn’t it become much more your take?

Yes, but I always love borrowing, because I love Walter Koenig’s performance. I think it’s wonderful and I feel grateful that there’s such a wealth of little moments and things that he created, and my favorite thing is incorporating that into my work. It’s interesting to revisit that each time.

You brought up a good point about coming back having changed and grown. Can you track how both you and Chekov have changed over the years?

In 2009, I literally had just graduated high school, so it was kind of odd to think about that. Literally I would’ve been going to University that year, but we did the first Trek. In terms of Chekov, I think in this film, specifically because they’re faced with the destruction of the Enterprise, it adds a more dire quality. Existential crisis is a little strong, but it has this very intense existential element of trying to figure out exactly what his place is in this space and world in a way that he hasn’t had to before. I think part of it was the themes of the film that there is a complacency that sets in once you’ve been doing it for awhile, and that’s really stripped from everyone on the crew. Chekov has to figure out, “Why am I doing this? What exactly am I doing? What can I bring to it? What do I value most?” I remember making the most notes about that for myself, just moments where you’re discovering what it is he values the most in all of this. I assume that to be the people, the crew, each other.

Does that reflect on you at all in terms of what you value the most from making these movies with this group of actors?

Here’s the thing: I think the most appropriate way to look at things for me is to have the experiences. It sounds cheesy, but it is true, because every film is such a gamble. Who knows what’s going to happen with any film, you know? But you do get this time shared with the people you’re there with. You do get to experience that and be together and do things together and study one another. That’s a hugepart of making these films.

The other part is, of course, being in these huge, fun movies that have this incredible legacy that they’re a part of. Especially given it’s the fiftieth anniversary, I’m quite flattered and honored to be a part of it, but the other part is on a much smaller scale, just being a part of this group and getting to know everyone. Not just the actors and the crew and seeing familiar faces, but seeing new faces as well. It’s really kind of what makes every film special in this weird way.

After the destruction of the Enterprise, the characters pair up in different ways and you end up spending more time with Chris Pine’s Kirk in this movie than you have in the other two. What is that pairing like?

I had a lot of fun with it, because Kirk is all balls and all heart and action and intellect. It’s paired with activity. He acts. I think Chekov is more cerebral and he is a technician. It was fun to play off that sort of a relationship, but also the moving part of the relationship is how much tremendous respect Chekov has for Kirk, and how Kirk really shows Chekov what it means to be a part of his team and what he values most. Kirk really does that, I think, for the characters. They’re always talking about, “Our captain will do this and that.” That comes from the original series. Their belief in their captain allows them to believe in themselves and in the enterprise — not their ship, but what they’re doing.

Their five-year mission, basically.

Yes, exactly. That character of Captain Kirk is the one that teaches them about themselves and what they’re doing and why they want to be doing it and what’s important about it. I think to be that close to that character, that’s always a subliminal thing. Why is Chekov doing this? It’s looking at Kirk that makes him realize that.

Because you’re on camera with him much more, you get to play colors of the character that you haven’t had a chance to play before.

Totally. Chris is a really funny guy, so it’s comedic things, too, that we both got a kick out of.

more