Edi Gathegi


Edi Mūe Gathegi is a Kenyan American actor. He appeared as recurring character Dr. Jeffrey Cole in the television series House, as Cheese in the 2007 film Gone Baby Gone, as Laurent in the films Twilight and its sequel ', and as Darwin in '. He also featured in the AMC series, Into the Badlands, as Baron Jacobee. 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, .

Early life

Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Gathegi grew up in Albany, California. 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 then 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 on 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 on ', ' 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. He now has read the whole series and calls himself a hardcore fan.
He portrays Eddie Willers in Atlas Shrugged, 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 also portrays the character Ronald Dacey on StartUp.

Personal life

Gathegi married Romanian Adriana Marinescu in 2018.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2007HouseDr. Jeffrey ColeRecurring role, 7 episodes
2007Lincoln HeightsBoa3 episodes
2007Veronica MarsZeke MolindaEpisode: "I Know What You'll Do Next Summer"
2008'Freddie MaysEpisode: "Tunnel Vision"
2008Life on MarsFletcher BellowEpisode: "Things to Do in New York When You Think You're Dead"
2008'Skinny DudeEpisode: "Leave Out All the Rest"
2011NikitaKalume UngaraEpisode: "Girl's Best Friend"
2012Phineas and FerbIggy/Various characters2 episodes
2013The Family ToolsDarren PoyntonMain role, 10 episodes
2013Beauty & the BeastKyle3 episodes
2013Red WidowLeon3 episodes
2014JustifiedJean Baptiste4 episodes
2014Wild CardTresUnsold television pilot
2015ProofZedMain role, 10 episodes
2015–presentThe BlacklistMatias SolomonRecurring role, 13 episodes
2015Into the BadlandsJacobee2 episodes
2016–presentStartUpRonald DaceyMain role, 30 episodes
2017Matias SolomonMain role, 8 episodes
2020BriarpatchA.D. SingeMain role

Awards and nominations

Ovation Awards
Drama Desk Awards
Lucille Lortel Awards