As Star Trek: The Original Series entered its third and final season, one of the USS Enterprise‘s crew members took a leave of absence…and nobody cared. Walter Koenig, who played youthful Russian navigator Pavel Chekov on the show, departed to do a play, knowing that the show was on its last legs, anyway. Koenig recently discussed it on The 7th Rule podcast.

The 7th Rule is a Star Trek podcast hosted by Cirroc Lofton, who starred as Jake Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and producer Ryan T. Husk. Koenig guests on the show monthly to review Star Trek episodes, and in a recent episode, he talked about leaving the show for a time: “I left the show. Nobody thought it was going to be picked up anyway, so nobody really cared. I left for a month and I did a play outside of Chicago with Jackie Coogan, Charlie Chaplin’s old sidekick, and that was great fun.” Absence did not make the heart grow fonder for Koenig, who found the role of Chekov unsatisfying: “…I didn’t miss being on the show because, at that point, it was really, ‘Aye aye, sir.’ And I still wanted to perform in my chosen profession with some dignity. Dignity of participation.” The show traditionally focused on leading cast members William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Deforest Kelley, which often left the supporting cast with minimal roles.

Who Is Pavel Chekov?

A Russian-born Starfleet navigator, Pavel Chekov served aboard the Enterprise under Captain Kirk as it explored unknown regions of space. The character was added to Star Trek in its second season, in an attempt to appeal to a younger demographic; Koenig’s Beatle-style wig helped disguise the fact that he was only five years younger than Shatner. The character continued to serve with the series’ heroes in all six original Star Trek movies, memorably having a mind-controlling Ceti eel inserted into his ear in The Wrath of Khan. He was one of the Enterprise crew members who attended the ill-fated launch of the Enterprise-B in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations, as well. A younger Chekov was featured in J.J. Abrams‘ reboot Star Trek films, where he was played by Anton Yelchin; Yelchin died a month before the release of Star Trek Beyond, which was dedicated to his memory.

Although Koenig hasn’t officially reprised the role of Pavel Chekov since Generations, he did make a voice cameo on the final episode of Picard as Anton Chekov, Pavel’s son, who had become the President of the Federation in the 25th century. Koenig suggested the character’s first name to honor the late Anton Yelchin.

Star Trek: The Original Series is streaming on Paramount+. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

Source: The 7th Rule