Anton Yelchin, aka Star Trek's Pavel Chekov, arrives on the red carpet at the LA premiere of "Star Trek" in 2009. The actor died on Sunday.
Jeff Vespa/Getty ImagesAnton Yelchin, the actor known for playing Chekov in the recent series of Star Trek reboot films, died in a freak accident in Los Angeles early Sunday morning.
Left to right: Yelchin as Chekov, Chris Pine as Kirk, John Cho as Sulu.
Paramount PicturesYelchin, 27, was killed when his car rolled backward down his steep driveway and pinned him to a brick mailbox pillar and a security fence, said Jenny Houser, a spokeswoman with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Friends found Yelchin after he failed to show up for a scheduled rehearsal, Houser said.
The Russian-born actor played Pavel Chekov in 2009's "Star Trek" and 2013's "Star Trek Into Darkness," as well as in "Star Trek Beyond," due out later this year.
Yelchin's Star Trek colleagues took to Twitter on Sunday to express their sorrow, including actors John Cho and Zachary Quinto, who play Sulu and Spock, respectively, "Star Trek Beyond" director Justin Lin and "Star Trek" and "Star Trek Into Darkness" director J.J. Abrams (by way of his production company, Bad Robot):
Update, 12:23 p.m. PT: Adds information from the LAPD; adds Cho's tweet. 12:42: Adds tweets from Lin and Quinto. 1:30: Adds Bad Robot tweet of J.J. Abrams' note.