Anton Yelchin, known for playing Chekov in the recent Star Trek films, has died. He was 27.
Friends went to Yelchin”s Studio City, CA home early Sunday morning after he didn”t show up for a rehearsal. There they discovered him pinned between his own car and a brick pillar.
“It appears he momentarily exited his car, and it rolled backward, causing trauma that led to his death,” an LAPD spokeswoman told The Hollywood Reporter.
His death comes just about a month ahead of the opening of the third of the rebooted Star Trek movies: Star Trek Beyond comes out July 22.
Among Yelchin”s other film roles were horror remake Fright Night, crime thriller Alpha Dog, teenage comedy Charlie Bartlett, Felicity Jones romantic drama Like Crazy, and last year”s Shakespeare adaptation Cymbeline. Yelchin also previously played guitar in punk band The Hammerheads.
He was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (then Leningrad) to figure skaters Irina and Viktor Yelchin.
The young actor”s most recently released movie is horror film Green Room, in which he reunited with his Fright Night co-star Imogen Poots and shared the screen with fellow Star Trek alum Patrick Stewart. Along with Star Trek Beyond, his yet-to-be-released projects include drama We Don”t Belong Here, Julia Ormond-Peter Dinklage film Rememory, and psychological thriller Thoroughbred, which co-stars The Witch actress Anya Taylor-Joy.
“Actor Anton Yelchin was killed in a fatal traffic collision early this morning,” a statement from his representative confirmed. “His family requests you respect their privacy at this time.”