Green Room actor Anton Yelchin dies in freak car accident

Star Trek, Terminator Salvation and Green Room actor Anton Yelchin is dead at the age of 27 after reportedly being pinned between his car and a brick mailbox Sunday morning.

From TMZ:

Yelchin’s friends became alarmed because he was supposed to meet them hours earlier for a rehearsal. They went to his San Fernando Valley home at around 1 AM and found him pinned between his car and a brick mailbox, which was attached to a security gate.

Law enforcement tells us the engine was running when his body was discovered, and the car was in neutral. The driveway was on a fairly steep incline. It’s unclear why he got out of the car.

The site adds that police do not currently suspect any foul play.

Anton was born in Russia to professional figure skating parents who later moved to the United States. He started his film career at a young age, landing roles in films like Along Came a Spider, Hearts In Atlantis, and Alpha Dog — all before turning 18. Anton was launched into super stardom in 2009 when he appeared in two of Hollywood’s biggest sci-fi franchises: Star Trek (as Pavel Chekov) and Terminator Salvation (as young Kyle Reese).

Anton has since worked on numerous projects, including voice-over work as Clumsy Smurf in The Smurfs movies, but I think his breakout performance was his role in the critically acclaimed 2016 movie Green Room in which he played the lead character Pat. Green Room is one of my favorite movies so far this year, and it had A LOT to do with Anton’s fantastically believable and relatable performance in terrifying circumstances. With Anton’s passing, I am guessing the film will see a resurgence in popularity and hopefully will see another wide release in theaters.

Here is the official Green Room red band trailer in which Anton is featured prominently:

Anton Yelchin has two more films scheduled for release later this year as well. He reprises his role as Pavel Chekov (I keep wanting to write Anton Chekov) in Star Trek Beyond, which premieres in the US on July 22. He also stars as missing son Maxwell Green in the film We Don’t Belong Here alongside Catherine Keener, Kaitlyn Dever, Riley Keough, Annie Starke, Cary Elwes, and Maya Rudolph. The film does not yet have a release date.