Anton Yelchin : Brainy Boy Wonder

It's a wonder cute, 16-year-old Anton Yelchin isn't an ice skater! His parents were famous Russian pairs skaters but he admits, it just isn't for him. Anton, who plays Tommy, the lead character in David Duchovny's coming of age film The House of D, was brought to the U.S. as a baby and started acting in commercials at age nine. He speaks Russian and is one of the most intelligent, well-read young men we've met in a long time. That curly dark hair and blue eyes don't hurt the young actor's appeal either.

You might have seen Anton in the Stephen King adaptation film Hearts in Atlantis or in Along Came a Spider, a crime thriller co-starring Morgan Freeman. If you caught up with the dark-haired actor on a kick back day, he'd either be hiking with his dog or listening to Beatles songs. Anton is "retro-boy" into literature and music of past eras. When we cornered him at L.A.'s Four Seasons hotel, he was in a Beatles t-shirt covered with a nice suit jacket. In the film, Anton's hair is stick straight but here he comes to sit down with us in a white guy 'fro... or close to it.

TeenHollywood: Your hair is curly! Is that for a role?

Anton: No, my hair is actually really curly. When we started House of D, I had a huge fro, which was straightened every morning. It takes 20 minutes. High-speed fro straightening. Actually, it got shorter. The first time it was so long that Michael Chapman, who's the cinematographer, would come up and say 'Can you even see through that hair?' and then he walked away. It was the worst feeling. I thought, 'he hates me because of the hair'!

TeenHollywood: What was it about this character that you wanted to play him?

Anton: It was the script really. It was just everything about the script. It's so beautiful and it's so touching. Growing up is almost like a fairy tale and it's made into really a fairy tale here. I read it and I thought it was perfect. I just knew that David was going to be making it.

TeenHollywood: What was one of the funniest moments working with Robin Williams?

Anton: Everything was a lot of fun because he's like the only person who can make me cry from laughing. He opens his mouth and I'm already like, please, stop it. There's a scene in the hallway before we make a delivery. For about an hour an a half all we did was screw around in that hallway. We played football. We hit each other. There's times when I fell on the floor and I made him drag me. Hanging out with Robin Williams, that says it all.

TeenHollywood: Robin's daughter Zelda is in the film. What was it like working with her?

Anton: Well Zelda is one of the most interesting and intelligent people that I've hung out with. I'm still friends with her. I saw her a while ago. She lives in San Francisco. I hung out with her, I think in February. We share a lot of the same interests. Same music. She's into photography and she has really incredible tastes in film and literature and she reads a lot more than I do. She's a really interesting person. I really enjoyed hanging out with her.

TeenHollywood: You get to kiss her. Was Robin on set for the kissing scene?

Anton: No. I don't think so. I don't know if this was on purpose or if he was changing out of his wardrobe. I think it was probably on purpose he wasn't there. It was a very nice thing to do as a father.

TeenHollywood: What was the most challenging moment for you in House of D?

Anton: Everything with dancing. I felt really weird. I didn't know how Zelda would react. Originally, Tommy [his character] was supposed to sing to Melissa [Zelda's character] when they were dancing, sing 'Melissa'. I was like, 'I don't know if I can sing 'Melissa' without it sounding so horrible'. I tried, and then I tried to whisper but it would be something where you'd feel like Melissa would say 'please don't sing. Don't ruin this really nice moment'. So it's not there.

TeenHollywood: How did you feel about that orange outfit you wore? [it's tight orange pants with orange sweater..very "disco"]

Anton: That outfit took about twenty minutes to get into and that belt took forever. It was basically like a skating outfit with clasps under your crotch. It took forever to put on and get the mic in and that belt drove David crazy. It was a work of art that belt. But, actually, I thought it was a great outfit. I liked it.

TeenHollywood: You read a lot. What are some of your very favorite books?

Anton: "Catcher in the Rye". I used to think it's his greatest book, but I've changed my mind. If you just look at Salinger books. It's kind of a contradiction. For example, Beatles albums. Abbey Road's my favorite, but I think White Album is the best one. Same thing with the Salinger books. And then "The Little Prince". I read that when I was 10. I just thought it was so beautiful. I'd love to see an animated Little Prince and in French, that would be perfect. I read a lot of Vonnegut right before we started House of D so it's all this '70s literature that I read.

TeenHollywood: What are you reading right now?

Anton: "Crime and Punishment" and "Johnny Got His Gun" for school. I like both of them. I really got into beat literature. There's a great book of poems called "Gasoline" by Gregory Corso and "Howl" by Alan Ginsberg. Then for awhile I stopped reading any kind of fiction. I started reading philosophy. It adds to your knowledge. I read "Poetics" by Aristotle, which was interesting, but he's a terrible writer. It's like he's saying 'I'm smarter than you, but I'm going to be nice and tell you why I'm smarter than you'.

TeenHollywood: How different do you feel kids are today than they were in '73 when the film takes place?

Anton: I think people get more alienated as they get closer with the internet. I just think the influences change. I don't doubt that there were kids in the '50s that are exactly like the ones you have now. There's a great book of photographs called "Teenage" and it's the 60s, 70s and 80s, and you look and everybody is the same. You just find the type of person and there's the same person in the 60s, 70s and the 80s. Technology changes, but people...the same.

TeenHollywood: Why didn't you go into ice skating?

Anton: My parents tried having me ice skate when I was four. I hated it, but I wouldn't say so because I was very nice. My parents had hopes that I would be a pairs skater, but it didn't work out and my parents aren't really pushy. I tried soccer because my grandfather is a soccer player. Didn't work out either. I got constant cramps. People would be eating oranges and I'd be eating huge sandwiches. The second half of the game I'd get terrible cramps. I hated that. Karate. No comment. Acting, no cramps, a lot of talking.

TeenHollywood: When did you realize you wanted to be an actor?

Anton: Well I was actually really shy until I was about nine and went to an acting class because our friend recommended it. It was so much fun and it was so great. I really enjoyed it and I enjoyed going there. I went on a Chucky Cheese commercial audition. I did an impression of Schwarzenegger and then that was it. I worked on that. I was having a lot of fun. My dad was more against it than my mom. My dad wasn't sure. But, I loved it and I still really love it.

TeenHollywood: I see you love The Beatles [he has on a Beatles t-shirt]. Who else do you like musically?

Anton: My parents really got me into great music, great movies and great books. So, I was listening to Ray Charles and B.B. King when I was about three. Right now, I relate everything to 'on my I-Pod'. It's a horrible obsession. I listen to The Beatles and was really into Frank Zappa during House of D. I listen to all these blues guys like Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie McTell. I listen to a lot of older jazz and '50's, '60's bop jazz. The last couple of records I got, I got "King Bee" by Muddy Waters which is great. I got John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. There are good new bands too like the Kaiser Chiefs are really good, Franz Ferdinand is pretty good. I listen to everything really except for new rap which I think is just atrocious.

TeenHollywood: Have you ever been to Russia?

Anton: No. I came here when I was six months old and I really want to go back. We though we were going to go back this summer that just past but it didn't happen because I was working on a show called "Huff" but I will go back. My mom's cousins are there. My grandmother from my mother's side is buried there and grandfather from my father's side is buried there so I definitely have to go and see that. Just go to St. Petersburg really; maybe go to see the Kremlin. It would really be important for me to go. I think maybe when I'm done with high school, I'll go and live in Southern Italy or Rome or go live in Paris and, from there, depending on how long I spend, I will go to St. Petersburg and visit my uncle who lives in Poland. I just have to go. I couldn't ignore it.

TeenHollywood: Do you have a girlfriend?

Anton: I don't know if I have a girlfriend or not. I'm not sure. It's very confusing.

TeenHollywood: Have you kissed her yet?

Anton: Yeah, but I still don't know what's going on.

TeenHollywood: What do you like to do when you go out with friends or dates?

Anton: My best friend's name is Paul and he and I, it's not really describable what we do. We do nothing. We've been friends for a long time. He plays digery doo and bagpipes. So, we get together and record this crazy stuff and we just walk around a lot. I got a terrible bug bite and my whole arm was swollen [he shows us]. But, I like going out into nature and just sit there and talk and play guitar. My dog Duke and I go for crazy walks for like three hours. He's a Dalmatian. Duke and I do the same thing that my friends and I do.

TeenHollywood: Would you like to direct a movie?

Anton: I'd love to direct but, hopefully, in the future, I want to open kind of like a Sundance that finds really good movies and helps them. I read this incredible script called 'The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint'. It was based on a book and it was never made but it's the greatest script. Nobody wants to see them. Like The House of D. It's not everybody's movie but it's important that people who watch these types of movies see them. I'd really like to direct.

TeenHollywood: Are you studying films?

Anton: After working with Michael Chapman, I started analyzing movies. I just watched The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and I didn't like it. But, I loved how it was made. I loved the set design and she [Catherine Deneuve] is so pretty. I love the technical aspects. I have a camera at home and I make stupid movies with my friend Paul. I just love putting music to what I see. And, when I read a script, I see everything. Also, the reason I like some music is it elicits a certain emotion that I apply to something that I see. I really enjoy to put that all together.

TeenHollywood: What did you think of David as a director?

Anton: All the emotions are in the script. It's a reflection of David, how nice the story is and how touching everything is and how sensitive he is to people's emotions. It comes out through everything he does. It's just a pleasure to be on set with him. David is so sensitive to everything and to everybody and what you're feeling; if you're not happy. I wasn't unhappy at all on the set, just worried a couple of times.

TeenHollywood: How did he first connect with you?

Anton: I remember before we started there was a movie called Best Boy that David wanted me to watch. He got me a copy to watch and he wrote me a letter. I was really nervous and I couldn't sleep and I kept asking David 'are you sure you're happy with what I'm doing?' This was before we started. He kept saying 'yeah, yeah'. He sent me this tape and it came with a note that he wrote saying 'I'm so happy that you're doing this movie. I know everything will be really great. I know I made a good choice'. That's the kind of person that he is. It's really a pleasure to be around him.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.