Edi Gathegi

Edi Mūe Gathegi (/ˈɛdi ˈmweɪ ɡəˈθɛɡi/;^{[citation needed]} born March 10, 1979) is a Kenyan-American actor. He had his breakthrough playing Dr. Jeffrey "Big Love" Cole on the fourth season of the television series House (2007), followed by his roles as Cheese in the 2007 film Gone Baby Gone, vampire Laurent in the films Twilight and its sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and as Darwin in X-Men: First Class. He played covert operative Matias Solomon on The Blacklist, which he reprised for the spinoff series The Blacklist: Redemption.

Gathegi is also featured in the AMC series Into the Badlands as Baron Jacobee. He has also played a leading role in Startup, a television drama series on Crackle. Since 2022, Gathegi has played engineer and entrepreneur Dev Ayesa in the Apple TV+ original science fiction space drama series For All Mankind, and played Mister Terrific in the DC Universe film Superman (2025).

Early life

Born on March 10, 1979, in Nairobi, Kenya, Gathegi grew up in Albany, California, U.S. Gathegi attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he played basketball until a knee injury ended his career. Gathegi then began taking acting classes. He studied at New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts, graduating in 2005.

Gathegi's career began in theatre, and his stage credits include Two Trains Running at the Old Globe Theatre, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Cyrano de Bergerac, among others.

Career

Gathegi's first professional role was the Haitian Cabbie in the 2006 film, Crank. Though he had originally auditioned for the role of Kaylo, the producers gave the role to Efren Ramirez and instead offered Gathegi an appearance as the Haitian Cabbie. He was skeptical at first about performing a Haitian accent but was coached by a Haitian friend.

In 2007, after guest-starring on Lincoln Heights and Veronica Mars, Gathegi went on to star as Bodie in Death Sentence, Darudi in The Fifth Patient, and Cheese in Gone Baby Gone. He later had a recurring role as Mormon intern Dr. Jeffrey Cole in the television medical drama House.

His character was often mocked for his religious beliefs by Dr. House, who himself is an atheist. He also guest-starred in CSI: Miami, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Life on Mars in 2008 before being cast as Laurent in Twilight. When Gathegi first auditioned for the 2008 film, adapted from the same-titled first book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, he had not heard of the series and was not aware that his character was a vampire. Gathegi later read the whole series and now considers himself a hardcore fan.

He portrayed Eddie Willers in Atlas Shrugged (2011), based on Ayn Rand's novel of the same name. He later portrayed another Haitian character, Jean Baptiste, in the fifth season of Justified, but was unhappy with the role and asked to be written off the show. He has also been a recurring character in NBC's television series The Blacklist as Matias Solomon, an operative for a covert organization.

Gathegi reprised the role in the 2016–2017 season crime thriller The Blacklist: Redemption. He also portrays the character Ronald Dacey on StartUp. In July 2025, Gathegi appeared as Mister Terrific in the DC Universe (DCU) film Superman (2025).

Personal life

Gathegi married Romanian dancer Adriana Marinescu in 2018.

Filmography

Film

• 2006 — Crank — Haitian Cabbie
• 2007 — Gone Baby Gone — Cheese
• 2007 — The Fifth Patient — Darudi
• 2007 — Death Sentence — Bodie
• 2008 — Twilight — Laurent
• 2009 — My Bloody Valentine 3D — Deputy Martin
• 2009 — The Twilight Saga: New Moon — Laurent
• 2010 — This Is Not a Movie — Ghost of Jimmy
• 2011 — X-Men: First Class — Armando Muñoz / Darwin
• 2011 — Atlas Shrugged — Eddie Willers
• 2011 — The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part I — Laurent — Flashback only
• 2014 — Bleeding Heart — Dex
• 2015 — This Isn't Funny — Ryan
• 2015 — Aloha — Lt. Col. Curtis
• 2015 — Criminal Activities — Marques
• 2016 — The Watcher — Noah
• 2018 — Pimp — Kenny Wayne
• 2018 — Better Start Running — Fitz Paradise
• 2019 — Princess of the Row — Beaumont "Bo" Willis — Also producer
• 2020 — The Last Thing He Wanted — Jones
• 2021 — Caged — Harlow Reid — Also executive producer
• 2021 — The Harder They Fall — Bill Pickett
• 2023 — Aporia — Mal
• 2025 — Superman — Michael Holt / Mister Terrific
• 2027 — Man of Tomorrow † — Michael Holt / Mister Terrific — Post-production

Television

• 2007 — House — Dr. Jeffrey Cole — Recurring role; 7 episodes
• 2007 — Lincoln Heights — Boa — 3 episodes
• 2007 — Veronica Mars — Zeke Molinda — Episode: "I Know What You'll Do Next Summer"
• 2008 — CSI: Miami — Freddie Mays — Episode: "Tunnel Vision"
• 2008 — Life on Mars — Fletcher Bellow — Episode: "Things to Do in New York When You Think You're Dead"
• 2008 — CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — Skinny Dude — Episode: "Leave Out All the Rest"
• 2011 — Nikita — Kalume Ungara — Episode: "Girl's Best Friend"
• 2012 — Phineas and Ferb — Iggy/Various characters — 2 episodes
• 2013 — The Family Tools — Darren Poynton — Main role; 10 episodes
• 2013 — Beauty & the Beast — Kyle — 3 episodes
• 2013 — Red Widow — Leon — 3 episodes
• 2014 — Justified — Jean Baptiste — 4 episodes
• 2014 — Wild Card — Tres — Unsold television pilot
• 2015 — Proof — Zed — Main role; 10 episodes
• 2015–2016 — The Blacklist — Matias Solomon — Recurring role; 13 episodes
• 2015 — Into the Badlands — Jacobee — 2 episodes
• 2016–18 — StartUp — Ronald Dacey — Main role; 30 episodes
• 2017 — The Blacklist: Redemption — Matias Solomon — Main role; 8 episodes
• 2020 — Briarpatch — A.D. Singe — Main role
• 2022 — The Guardians of Justice — Mr. Smiles — 7 episodes
• 2022–present — For All Mankind — Dev Ayesa — Main role; season 3–present

Audio

• 2023 — The Mantawauk Caves — James Fincher — Main role; podcast

Awards and nominations

• Astra TV Awards — January 8, 2024 — Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Drama Series — For All Mankind — Nominated
• Black Reel Awards — February 28, 2022 — Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male — The Harder They Fall — Nominated
• Critics' Choice Super Awards — August 6, 2026 — Best Actor in a Superhero Movie — Superman — Nominated
• Drama Desk Awards — June 3, 2018 — Special Award — Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train — Honored
• Gotham Awards — November 29, 2021 — Ensemble Tribute Award — The Harder They Fall — Won
• Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards — March 19, 2012 — Lead Actor in a Play — Superior Donuts — Won
• Lucille Lortel Awards — May 6, 2018 — Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play — Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train — Nominated
• Method Fest Independent Film Festival — March 22–28, 2019 — Audience Award — Princess of the Row — Won
• Method Fest Independent Film Festival — March 22–28, 2019 — Breakout Acting Award — Princess of the Row — Won
• Obie Awards — May 18, 2018 — Distinguished Performance by an Actor — Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train — Won
• Ovation Awards — September 19, 2011 — Featured Actor in a Play — Superior Donuts — Nominated
• Saturn Awards — March 8, 2026 — Best Supporting Actor — Superman — Nominated
• Teen Choice Awards — August 7, 2011 — Choice Movie: Chemistry — X-Men: First Class — Nominated