Edi Gathegi came onto the Hollywood scene with the 2006 action film Crank as a Haitian cabbie, which started a steady trend in of the actor having smaller roles in high-profile productions. However, as Gathegi’s career has progressed, his parts are getting noticeably bigger. Born on March 10, 1979 in Nairobi, Kenya, Gathegi quickly established himself in Hollywood despite having a somewhat late start to his film career after spending time on stage in the early portion of his acting journey.

Actors can be typecast after playing a gangster role, but that didn’t happen to Gathegi despite playing criminals in both Crank and Gone Baby Gone, his first two movie appearances. Instead, Gathegi has gone on to appear in a variety of roles and genres, sometimes as wise, calculating villains, other times as heroes hoping to find a solution to save others or themselves. No matter who he plays, Gathegi’s characters tend to be intelligent. There’s something in his eyes that makes it clear that he won’t be fooled, and his best performances take advantage of that natural savvy.

10

My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009)

Edi Gathegi Plays Deputy Martin

In My Bloody Valentine 3D, the 2009 remake of the 1981 cult slasher My Bloody Valentine, Edi Gathegi appears as Deputy Martin, one of the investigating officers who have to contend with a murderous miner. Second banana to Sheriff Axel Palmer (Kerr Smith), Martin is not the main officer on the case, but he’s Palmer’s loyal and clever right hand who, far from being a lackey, always seems one step ahead of his boss but doesn’t overstep.

A fairly paint-by-numbers remake that does not add much to the original film, My Bloody Valentine 3D is still a solid entry in the slasher genre, and it’s the cast that makes it stand out. It’s a relentless and bloody film with a final villain that keeps audiences guessing, and unwinking performances like Gathebi’s make it easier to take My Bloody Valentine 3D seriously, which ups the suspense and terror effectively.

Watch on Amazon Prime Video

9

Aporia (2023)

Edi Gathegi Plays Malcolm Rice

In Aporia, Sophie Rice (Judy Greer) is grieving the tragic death of her husband Malcolm (Edi Gathegi) eight months after he’s killed by a drunk driver. Hoping to help Sophie, Malcolm’s friend and scientific colleague, Jabir Karim (Payman Maadi), shows her what he and her husband had been working on: a machine capable of sending a particle to a point in the past and killing someone, thereby affecting the future. Sophie manages to change the past and save her husband but also creates a cascading series of terrible events she must fix before it’s too late.

The time travel paradox can get knotty in Aporia just like in similar films, but the heartfelt performances make for a softer kind of sci-fi that’s still suspenseful but doesn’t feel as existentially terrifying as something like 12 Monkeys. Gathegi is fantastic as a man brought back from death, who’s trying to understand something incomprehensible. His natural intelligence works wonders in the part. If someone like Gathegi’s Malcolm can’t fathom the science, then the audience can assume the film is dealing with something almost mystical.

8

StartUp (2016-2018)

Edi Gathegi Plays Ronald Dacey (30 Episodes, 2016-2018)

StartUp is a little-known series from Crackle starring Edi Gathegi as Ronald Dacey alongside a talented cast including Adam Brody, Martin Freeman, Mira Sorvino, and Ron Perlman. Ronald is a Haitian gang leader in the three-season series about the emergence of a digital currency company that breaks rules on their way to becoming the most profitable business in the industry. Years later, with the collapse of many cryptocurrencies and the imprisonment of digital currency “businessmen” like Sam Bankman-Fried, the series feels a bit laughable.

However, the story, writing, and characters are still top-notch, even if the entire conceit of the series feels like yesterday’s news. Gathegi in particular is notable. Ronald’s efforts to get out of illegal businesses with his gang and into something legitimate are engaging, and keep the story from growing stale. It’s a multi-faceted role that sees Gathegi being a loving family man in one scene, and then torturing a rival in the next.

7

The Harder They Fall (2021)

Edi Gathegi Plays Bill Pickett

The Harder They Fall is one of the few Westerns with a primarily Black cast. This drama is populated by real-life lawmen and criminal characters and specifically follows Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), an outlaw who gets a posse together when he learns his arch-enemy Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) is being released from prison. Love’s posse is full of dangerous men and women eager for the hunt, including the hot-tempered Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi).

It’s an energetic and stylish film and the chemistry between all members of the ensemble cast is palpable and kinetic. Pickett has some key scenes, including one where he leads the cast in a haunting and beautiful song as they stalk through the Western deserts. It’s a testament to Gathegi’s control of a sequence that after all the shooting and excitement, his screen presence demands the film slow down and pay him close attention.

6

Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Edi Gathegi Plays Cheese

One of Edi Gathegi’s earliest roles came in Gone Baby Gone, the neo-noir crime thriller and Ben Affleck’s directorial debut. Gathegi plays Cheese, a Haitian drug lord. Patrick (Casey Affleck) and Angie (Michelle Monaghan) pay Cheese a visit to question him about the missing four-year-old Amanda (Madeline O’Brien) in Gathegi’s only scene. It becomes instantly apparent that Cheese is just some small-time dealer and the empire he claims to rule over is nothing Patrick and Amanda can’t handle.

Gathegi wavers between being furious about being questioned, frightened of what Patrick will do to him if he doesn’t get the answers he’s looking for, and offended at what he’s being accused of. It turns out that Cheese had nothing to do with the kidnapping, but he still won’t be able to help the investigators. Gathegi ends up getting the title line of the film, telling Patrick that this kid he’s after is, “Gone, baby. Gone.”

5

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Edi Gathegi Plays Darwin

X-Men: First Class is considered one of the best X-Men movies and a return to form after X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine disappointed. This new film, set in the past and serving as a prequel series (of sorts — there’s a not-so-insignificant amount of time traveling), takes place in the ’60s, just before the world is going to find out there are mutants among them. Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) are still friends and put together a team of mutant students that can help save the world, the eponymous “first class”.

One of these early recruits is Darwin (Edi Gathegi), a mutant capable of adapting to any situation to protect himself. Darwin is only in the film for the first half, but his nervous energy and excitement at finding people like him is so much fun, that it’s tragic when he dies violently a few scenes later. His attempts at bravery are admirable, but his fiery collapse into powdery coal is as horrifying as it is memorable in a series with some surprisingly shocking deaths.

4

House (2004-2012)

Edi Gathegi Plays Dr. Jeffrey Cole (7 Episodes, 2007)

Despite having few acting credits under his belt in 2007, Gathegi appeared as the recurring character Dr. Jeffrey Cole in season 4 of House. Cole is one of the original 40 applicants for the three open fellowship positions with Dr. House (Hugh Laurie). A practicing Mormon, House frequently targets Cole’s religion as a way to needle the young applicant. Cole nearly wins the fellowship, but his willingness to conspire with Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) makes House determine he would never be a good fit for his team.

Cole is patient and polite, a result of his religion, but he also has a competitive and scheming side that House ends up respecting him for, even if those schemes are what eventually eliminate him from contention. Gathegi plays a character keeping his temper in check very well and even when Cole is keeping a straight face, Gathegi manages to express a roiling anger underneath, that eventually explodes with a satisfying punch to House’s face.

3

Twilight Franchise (2008-2011)

Edi Gathegi Plays Laurent (Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon)

The Twilight saga has famously been criticized for some of the franchise’s choices, some of the criticisms even coming from the stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. However, there are still notable bright spots in the movies, and in Twilight (2008) and The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), it’s hard to argue that Laurent (Edi Gathegi) is not one of the best parts of those films. Laurent is a vampire in James’ (Cam Gigandet) coven who decides to travel to Alaska and become vegetarian before giving in to his base instincts.

The different vampires in Twilight can be hit-or-miss on how effectively they represent the legendary monsters, but Laurent may be one of the best examples in the series. He has an ethereal and magical quality that makes him feel like an ancient creature, just with a young human body. Gathegi carries each scene he’s in, and it’s a delightful surprise when he returns for the sequel.

2

The Blacklist (2013-2023)

Edi Gathegi Plays Matias Solomon (13 Episodes, 2015-2016, 2017)

Edi Gathegi appears in season 3 of The Blacklist and season 1 of The Blacklist: Redemption, a spin-off series from 2017 that focuses on a private military agency. In both shows, Gathegi plays Matias Solomon, a former CIA operative working in Ethiopia who was disavowed after committing war crimes. Snappily dressed and impeccably groomed, Solomon is almost unbearably well put together, and his cold, ruthless manner ranks him as one of The Blacklist‘s smartest enemies.

He’s soft-spoken and courteous, and sadistic and violent, all at the same time. Gathegi makes what may sound like a one-note character into someone fully realized. Solomon was so popular that he was brought back as an anti-hero for The Blacklist: Redemption. It always appears that Gathegi is having fun on screen while playing the character, giving each scene incredible energy.

1

For All Mankind (2019-Present)

Edi Gathegi Plays Dev Ayesa (20 Episodes, 2022-Present)

Edi Gathegi is introduced in For All Mankind in season 3 as Dev Ayesa, a major new character. The science fiction Apple TV+ show depicts an alternate reality of the Earth where the space race never ended and, in the current time period, humans have begun to colonize Mars. Dev is a billionaire inventor and business executive who owns Helios Aerospace, a private company interested in getting to Mars before the United States and other interested countries.

The comparisons to real-life tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are obvious, but Edi Gathegi makes a wholly original character for the series. A self-made man, Dev is arrogant and prone to ignoring advice, but Gathegi infuses the character with a sensitivity and fearfulness about what he’s doing that makes the character fully realized and worth rooting for as he progresses along his arc.