Yelchin: I'm Signed For Three Star Trek Movies
Paramount Pictures is making a strong commitment to "Star Trek XI" -- or as writer Roberto Orci likes to call it, "Star Trek: Zero" -- and the entire movie franchise of Star Trek, as actor Anton Yelchin, who plays Pavel Chekov in the film, says he's on board for three Trek pictures.
Yelchin has been filming Chekov recently, and says he is trying to capture a little bit of what Walter Koenig originally brought to the table with the character, but sometimes it can be a little strange.
"Chekov is like the weirdest guy," Yelchin told IGN. "Like, watching the old show really makes you realize just how strange, but incredible it was. Like there's one scene where they're talking to Apollo or something, or the god that used to be Apollo in the old show, and Apollo is like, 'I am Apollo.' And Chekov is like, 'And I am the czar of all Russias.'
"That's not how I'd choose to do the accent, but it's like they gave him these lines. I mean he really is the weirdest, weirdest character."
As for many actors trying to recreate iconic parts, Yelchin studied a lot of what Koenig did as a character -- including his desire to change the letter "v" to the letter "w." He said he had to work closely with J.J. Abrams to capture exactly what the director was looking for in the new movie.
"I talked to JJ a lot about what he wanted, and his thing was like, we're not making something that's supposed to be the old Star Trek," Yelchin said. "He's making his own movie, but there is a bit of like I think people want to see what they love. And so we're all sort of trying to find things that will remind people of the old characters. And so that's been interesting sort of picking up little things."
"Star Trek XI" premieres Dec. 25. Check out the movie's official site by clicking here.
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