Star Trek The Original Series Pavel Chekov
Pavel Chekov
- Star Trek
- Star Trek Generations
- Star Trek Deep Space Nine
- Star Trek (Kelvin Timeline)
He may not have been a part of the cast when the USS Enterprise first launched on to our tv screens, but he quickly became a much-loved character and welcome addition to the bridge crew when Walter Koenig took on the role that he would continue through six movies and several later appearances before being recast with the late Anton Yelchin taking on the role in the Kelvin Timeline movies.
Throughout the later episodes of The Original Series, you could always count on Chekov to provide a historical reference as to how the Russians had invented each important facet of the crew’s lives. It was his charisma and unparalleled optimism that made Chekov a great character and Walter Koenig was the perfect man to play him.
Though budget constraints meant that Koenig wasn’t invited to join the rest of the cast in The Animated Series Walter would continue to play the role through the first six movies featuring the original cast, and reprise his role again for Generations, before appearing in the Deep Space Nine episode Trails and Tribble-ations through the use of archive footage. His final Archival appearance came in a photograph in Beyond.
The role was recast with Anton Yelchin replacing Koenig in the Kelvin Timeline, fans knew it would be a tricky character to capture for any actor, but Yeltsin was the perfect choice, unfortunately Yelchin passed away in a freak accident in 2016 and the studio vowed not to recast the role in tribute to the work Yelchin had done.