Star Trek countdown has started

They call themselves “Trekkies." Fans of the cult sci-fi saga 'Star Trek' have just 25 days before the world release of one of the most highly-anticipated blockbusters of the year, directed by J.J. Abrams.

Often referred to as the “greatest adventure of all time," the 11th film based on the Star Trek franchise is a fusion of action and comedy.

In fact, the most touching character onboard the U.S.S. Enterprise is Pavel Chekov. RT did an exclusive interview with one of the most promising American actors of Russian origin, Anton Yelchin.

Anton’s parents emigrated to the United States from Leningrad (St. Petersburg) when Yelchin was only 6 months old. Since then, the 20-year-old actor has already played in more than 15 films.

He says being part of Star Trek was a blast. “I fully embraced the original Chekov. It was a delight to bring all that lightness and comedy of this character. It would have been simple just to do a Russian accent, but in Chekov, you have to capture the essence of the Cold War stereotypes and many other things. Pavel Chekov is not a very deep or troubled character. He’s more just light, and smart, and honest and has a funky accent…” 

Yelchin’s career in cinema took off when he was 12 years old. He starred opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins in the mystery drama 'Hearts in Atlantis.' “I was insanely intimidated at first. When I first met Anthony Hopkins, my eye was twitching, and I was freaking out, but when we started working together, we really got along very well. It was an honor for me to even have one line with him.”

The young actor shared with RT that he took up acting as a means of gaining self-confidence. “I was very shy when I was younger. My parents unsuccessfully tried to get me to do various sorts of athletics, because they are athletes. But I wasn’t very good at it, nor did I enjoy it. A friend of ours suggested that my parents take me to an acting class. I suddenly realized I really loved it. My coach saw some potential in me. I was very fortunate because my parents just wanted me to be happy – they wanted me to have something in my life that I cared about…”

In Star Trek, the only thing Chekov, Kirk, Spock, and Uhura seem to care about is the future of the galaxy.

Watch RT’s exclusive interview with Afro-American actress Zoe Saldana, whose sexy character Uhura specializes in xenolinguistics, on April 21 on our website.

Valeria Paikova, RT