Star Trek: Karl Urban Pays Tribute to Late Co-Star Anton Yelchin

The Boys star Karl Urban is paying tribute to his late Star Trek co-star Anton Yelchin. In a new video for GQ, Urban breaks down some of his most iconic roles, including that of Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy. In his comments about his work in the Star Trek franchise, Urban reflected on his enjoyment of working with the rest of the cast and specifically, the tragedy of losing Yelchin after filming Star Trek Beyond. Urban spoke about how Yelchin’s death “really hurt” and called him an amazing and intelligent person with a huge future ahead of him.

“The last one was the best,” Urban said of filming Star Trek Beyond. “You know, sadly, it was after that that we lost Anton, tragically, and that really hurt. He was such an amazing guy, so intelligent and such a massive future ahead of him, he was going to get into directing and [was] an extraordinary actor as well, very well-respected. For us to lose him was a real tragedy.”

Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekov in the Star Trek films, died in 2016 in a tragic accident at the age of 27. With is death occurring between the filming and release of Star Trek Beyond, a title card with the words “For Anton” was added to the film ahead of the end credits. Producer J.J. Abrams has said that Yelchin’s character will not be recast in future films.

In terms of future films, back in January it was announced that a fourth Star Trek film is in the works at Paramount with plans for the film’s cast to return, including Urban, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, and Simon Pegg. Back in February, Saldana spoke with Entertainment Tonight about the excitement of a new Star Trek installment, though also noted it would be bittersweet without Yelchin.

“We’re excited. Obviously, it’s bittersweet because we are coming together for a fourth time and one of us is no longer with us with Anton’s passing, but we honestly feel that going back and keeping the Star Trek family together is a way to really keep him alive in our thoughts and our hearts because he was such a fan,” Saldana said. “And he was such a devoted artist to the craft and also to Star Trek. So, it would be great to get to go back to work and get to, you know, be together with the gang.”

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