Lychnikoff's early film credits include small roles, e.g., in the 1997 thriller Air Force One (film). Lychnikoff worked with J.J. Abrams on the hit 2008 film Cloverfield. He was seen as a Russian soldier in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In 2009, Lychnikoff appeared as a Romulan commander in Abrams' Star Trek.