Looking at four great non-Star Trek films that starred Anton Yelchin.
We love giving recommendations involving Star Trek actors on and around their birthdays. That’s part of the reason why we’re giving you four great films to watch that starred late-Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin. Yelchin, who passed away in 2016, was one of the most popular Star Trek actors during the JJ Abrams-era of Trek films. He would’ve been 33 this week.
He brought Pavel Chekov to life and fans embraced the performance as he brought an earnestness and humility to the character, while also accurately showing off his near-genius level skillsets. Yelchin’s Chekov was a master at anything he applied himself to, and like his Star Trek counterpart, Yelchin was a masterclass of acting.
It’s hard to pick just one film that he did that was great, let alone four. He always brought a style to his acting that made his characters all seem unique and relatable but also incredibly deep and interesting. Not just that, but many of his film choices really were deep and interesting, and out of the box. He wasn’t really interested in doing cookie cutter roles and that means there’s a lot of variety and flavor to his films.
So we say four films, but these are just four of many films you could watch with Yelchin.
Four Anton Yelchin films to watch that aren’t Star Trek
Burying the Ex (2014)
Yelchin plays a young man who’s ready to break up with his girlfriend, played by Ashley Greene, and on the day he finally decides to do it, his girlfriend is killed by a bus. Distraught by her loss, he falls into his job at a horror shop and eventually meets a new girl, played by Alexandra Daddario. The only problem is, the ex-girlfriend is back from the dead and is unaware Yelchin intended to break up with her. Yelchin’s unique blend of sarcastic humor is on full display and Greene is a force as the ever-controlling girlfriend. If you like a bit of horror in your comedy, this is the film for you.
Charlie Bartlett (2007)
Yelchin is Charlie Bartlett, an outcast who can’t seem to stay in private school, so he ends up in a public school. Due to his mothers’ lackluster parenting skills, Charlie spends most of his time in therapy and because of it, becomes a defacto therapist for his classmates. It was a great film that tackled mental health and how it is often underutilized in a public sphere. The film is bolstered by Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, and Kat Kennings
Green Room (2015)
Star Trek fans will love this film, as it stars Yelchin and Patrick Stewart. Yelchin is part of a punk band that unknowingly agrees to do a show at a small venue, that ends up being a neo-Nazi party. Fearing for their lives, they play the show and intend on leaving right after but an accidental discovery of a murder forces the band to fend off a swarth of Neo Nazis as they fight for their lives. Yelchin is fantastic in this but Stewart gives a great, cold performance as the leader of the gang.
Odd Thomas (2013)
For horror/fantasy fans, Odd Thomas will remain an underrated classic. Yelchin is a psychic who can interact with dead spirits and the like and is forced to use his gift to help the local police force keep people alive, albeit without most of them knowing. Yelchin isn’t the only name worth watching in this, as Willem DaFoe is also amazing in this film.