Russian-born Anton Yelchin has been acting since the age of 9, but he was barely 6-months old when his parents — both prize-winning Soviet figure skaters — emigrated to the U.S. from his native Leningrad (now St. Petersburg again) in 1989. Victor and Irina Yelchin were both stars with the Leningrad Ice Ballet and had qualified for the 1972 Winter Olympics, but the Soviets did not allow them to participate due to their Jewish religion.
The family settled in Southern California and remained active in ice skating, but young Anton soon took an interest in acting. After appearing in commercials for the likes of McDonald's and Chuck E. Cheese's, he landed the first of many TV guest roles with ER in 2000. From 2004-2006 he appeared on Showtime's original drama Huff as the younger son Byrd to Hank Azaria's conflicted psychiatrist, Dr. Craig Huffstodt. Other TV guest roles include Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Practice, Judging Amy and Without a Trace.
He made his film debut in the independent film "A Man Is Mostly Water” in 2002, then won the Young Artists Award for "Best Lead Performance in A Feature Film" in "Hearts in Atlanta" opposite Anthony Hopkins. His highest-profile role to date may have been that of the Russian ambassador's son in the Morgan Freeman-Ashley Judd thriller "Along Came A Spider," while more recent work includes co-starring turns with Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland in "Fierce People" and in "Alpha Dog," co-starring Emile Hirsch and Justin Timberlake.
On his own "Factfile" page, Anton mentions his March 11 birthday, his Dalmatian dog Duke, and his fall 2007 entry into USC in directing studies. He also reveals his favorite actors are Robert Downey Jr. — his co-star in the new movie "Charlie Bartlett" — and Robert de Niro, whose classic "Taxi Driver" is one of Yelchin's favorite films. His fave bands range from The Beatles to The Libertines and Howlin' Wolf, professing an interest in prewar acoustic blues, and he plays piano and guitar and has his own band. Chess and photography are two more interests, along with reading — "Catcher in the Rye" and "The Little Prince" topping his list of favorite books, with TV-animation comedies like The Simpsons and Family Guy his preferred viewing.
