Anton Yelchin Biography

Anton Viktorovich Yelchin (born March 11, 1989) is an American film and television actor. He began performing in the late 1990s, appearing in several television roles and the Hollywood films Along Came a Spider and Hearts in Atlantis (both 2001). Yelchin later appeared on the television series Huff and starred in the films House of D (2005), Alpha Dog (2007), Star Trek (2009) and its sequel Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), Terminator Salvation (2009), The Smurfs (2011), Fright Night (2011) and Like Crazy (2011). Yelchin's role as Jacob Clarke in the Steven Spielberg miniseries Taken was significant in furthering his career as a child actor.

Personal life

Yelchin was born March 11, 1989, in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (modern day Saint Petersburg, Russia). His family is Jewish. His parents, Irina Korina and Viktor Yelchin, were pair figure skaters who were celebrities as stars of the Leningrad Ice Ballet for 15 years. Nationally, Yelchin's parents were the third-ranked pair team; they thus qualified for the 1972 Winter Olympics, but were not permitted to participate by the Soviet authorities (Yelchin has said the reason was unclear: "I don't exactly know what that was " because they were Jewish or because the KGB didn't want them to travel"). Yelchin's family moved to the United States in September 1989, receiving status as refugees from political oppression. As of 2007, Yelchin's mother works as a figure skating choreographer and his father as a figure skating coach, having been Sasha Cohen's first trainer. Yelchin's uncle is the children's author and painter Eugene Yelchin.

Yelchin has stated that he "wasn't very good" at figure skating, his parents' profession. He once played in a punk band named The Hammerheads, though the group has since disbanded. He enjoys playing the guitar, having said that it gives him "a lot of fulfillment", and is a fan of acoustic blues music. Yelchin attended the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies, in Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, and enrolled at the University of Southern California in the fall of 2007 to study film. As of 2009, he lives in Burbank, California.

Career

Yelchin began acting at the age of 9 in the independent film A Man is Mostly Water. His earliest roles include Jackson in A Time for Dancing, Milo in Delivering Milo, Tommy Warshaw in House of D, and Jacob Clarke in the miniseries Taken. He made a guest appearance as Stewart, Cheryl David's nephew and a self-described magician (who only knows one card trick), in a season four episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and starred as Byrd Huffstodt, the 14-year-old son of Dr. Craig "Huff" Huffstodt (Hank Azaria), on the television series Huff, which ran from 2004 to 2006. In 2006, he also had a role on an episode ("Tru Love") of the series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, playing a boy who falls in love with his teacher. His biggest film recognition came for the role of Bobby Garfield in Hearts in Atlantis (2001), for which he won Best Performance in a Feature Film " Leading Young Actor at the 2002 Young Artist Awards. He also appeared in the Criminal Minds episode "Sex, Birth & Death" as Nathan Harris, a boy who has fantasies about killing prostitutes.

Yelchin starred in Alpha Dog, a crime thriller that received an American release on January 12, 2007. In the film he played Zack Mazursky, a character based on real-life kidnap and murder victim Nicholas Markowitz. USA Todays review described the performance as "heartbreakingly endearing". After the premiere, Markowitz's mother praised his portrayal of her son. Yelchin subsequently headlined Fierce People, a drama which received a limited release on September 7 of that year and co-starred Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland. In 2008 Yelchin played the title role in Charlie Bartlett, a film about a wealthy teenager in a public high school. Also that year, Yelchin appeared alongside the Russian duo t.A.T.u. in the movie You and I (which was filmed in Moscow during the summer of 2007), and co-starred with Susan Sarandon and Justin Chatwin in Middle of Nowhere. He next starred in two May 2009 releases: the eleventh Star Trek film, in which he portrayed 17-year old navigator Pavel Chekov, and Terminator Salvation, in which he was cast as a teenage Kyle Reese.

In 2011, Yelchin portrayed Charley Brewster in the remake of Fright Night, directed by Craig Gillespie, starred in the romantic drama Like Crazy, and voiced Clumsy Smurf in the film adaptation of The Smurfs. He provided the voice for the Albino Pirate character in the animated film The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (released in North America as The Pirates! Band of Misfits) (2012).

He reprised his role in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and played the lead in the thriller Odd Thomas.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Geppetto	Featured	Television film
2000	'	Augie
2001	Delivering Milo	Milo
2001	15 Minutes	Boy in Burning Building
2001	Along Came a Spider	Dimitri Starodubov
2001	Hearts in Atlantis	Bobby Garfield
2002	Rooftop Kisses	Charlie
2004	Jack	Jack	Television film
2004	House of D	Tom Warshaw
2005	Fierce People	Finn Earl
2006	Alpha Dog	Zack Mazursky	Character based on Nicholas Markowitz
2007	Charlie Bartlett	Charlie Bartlett
2008	Middle of Nowhere	Dorian Spitz
2009	New York, I Love You	Boy in the Park	Segment: "Brett Ratner"
2009	Star Trek	Pavel Chekov
2009	Terminator Salvation	Kyle Reese
2010	Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac	Ace Zuckerman
2010	You and I	Edvard Nikitin
2011	Like Crazy	Jacob Helm
2011	'	Porter Black
2011	'	Clumsy Smurf	Voice only
2011	Fright Night	Charley Brewster
2012	The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists	Albino Pirate	Voice only; U.S. version
2013	Movie 43	Necrophiliac worker at morgue	Deleted sketch
2013	From Up on Poppy Hill	Shun Kazama	Voice only; U.S. version
2013	Only Lovers Left Alive	Ian
2013	Star Trek Into Darkness	Pavel Chekov
2013	Odd Thomas	Odd Thomas
2013	'	Clumsy Smurf	Voice only
2013	Broken Horses	Jake	Post-production
2014	Rudderless	Quentin	Filming
2014	5 to 7		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	ER	Robbie Edelstein	"Be Still My Heart"
2002	Judging Amy	Davis Bishop	"The Justice League of America"
2002	Taken	Jacob Clarke " Child	Two episodes: "Jacob and Jesse" and "High Hopes"
2002	'	Justin Langer	Two episodes: "Small Sacrifices" and "The Good Fight"
2003	Without a Trace	Johnny Atkins	"The Bus"
2004	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Stewart	"The Blind Date"
2004	NYPD Blue	Evan Grabber	"Take My Wife, Please"
2004"06	Huff	Byrd Huffstodt	25 episodes
2006	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Keith Tyler	"Tru Love"
2006	Criminal Minds	Nathan Harris	"Sex, Birth, Death"

Video Games

Video Games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Star Trek (2013 video game)	Pavel Chekov	Voice and likeness

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations in film and television

Year	Award	Category	Title of work	Medium	Result
2002	Phoenix Film Critics Award	Best Youth Performance	Hearts in Atlantis	Film
2002	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film " Leading Young Actor	Hearts in Atlantis	Film
2003	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-Series or Special " Supporting Young Actor	Taken	Television
2005	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special " Leading Young Actor	Jack	Television
2009	Boston Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Ensemble Cast	Star Trek	Film
2009	Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards	Best Ensemble	Star Trek	Film
2010	Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	Best Acting Ensemble	Star Trek	Film