Anton Yelchin, the actor best known for playing Chekov in the new Star Trek films, has died at 27. The Alpha Dog actor was killed in a freak car accident early this morning, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Yelchin will appear in the upcoming film Star Trek Beyond, set to open July 22. Paramount Pictures released a statement on Yelchin’s tragic death:
All of us at Paramount join the world in morning the untimely passing of Anton Yelchin. As a member of the Star Trek family, he was beloved by so many and he will missed by all. We share our deepest condolences with his mother, father and family.
Yelchin, who was previously in a punk band called The Hammerheads, started his career in the 1990s, appearing in several television series (Steven Spielberg miniseries Taken) and Hollywood films (Along Came a Spider). He later starred in films like Terminator Salvation (2009), the 2011 remake of the horror classic Fright Night, Like Crazy, and Jim Jarmusch’s 2013 vampire tale Only Lovers Left Alive.