Edi Mūe Gathegi (; 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 Year Title Role Notes 2006 Crank Haitian Cabbie 2007 Gone Baby Gone Cheese The Fifth Patient Darudi Death Sentence Bodie 2008 Twilight Laurent 2009 My Bloody Valentine 3D Deputy Martin The Twilight Saga: New Moon Laurent 2010 This Is Not a Movie Ghost of Jimmy 2011 X-Men: First Class Armando Muñoz / Darwin Atlas Shrugged Eddie Willers The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part I Laurent Flashback only 2014 Bleeding Heart Dex 2015 This Isn't Funny Ryan Aloha Lt. Col. Curtis Criminal Activities Marques 2016 The Watcher Noah 2018 Pimp Kenny Wayne 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 The Harder They Fall Bill Pickett 2023 Aporia Mal 2025 Superman Michael Holt / Mister Terrific 2027 Post-production

Television Year Title Role Notes 2007 House Dr. Jeffrey Cole Recurring role; 7 episodes Lincoln Heights Boa 3 episodes Veronica Mars Zeke Molinda Episode: "I Know What You'll Do Next Summer" 2008 CSI: Miami Freddie Mays Episode: "Tunnel Vision" Life on Mars Fletcher Bellow Episode: "Things to Do in New York When You Think You're Dead" 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 Beauty & the Beast Kyle 3 episodes Red Widow Leon 2014 Justified Jean Baptiste 4 episodes 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 Year Title Role Notes 2023 The Mantawauk Caves James Fincher Main role; podcast

Awards and nominations AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryNominated workResultRef.Astra TV AwardsJanuary 8, 2024Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Drama SeriesFor All MankindBlack Reel AwardsFebruary 28, 2022Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, MaleThe Harder They Fall Critics' Choice Super Awards August 6, 2026 Best Actor in a Superhero Movie Superman Drama Desk AwardsJune 3, 2018 Special Award Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train Andrew Gans, "Signature’s Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train Delayed Two Days Following Departure of Reg E. Cathey", Playbill, September 28th, 2017. Gotham Awards November 29, 2021 Ensemble Tribute Award The Harder They Fall Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards March 19, 2012 Lead Actor in a Play Superior Donuts Lucille Lortel Awards May 6, 2018 Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train Method Fest Independent Film FestivalMarch 22–28, 2019 Audience AwardPrincess of the Row Breakout Acting Award Obie Awards May 18, 2018 Distinguished Performance by an Actor Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train Ovation Awards September 19, 2011 Featured Actor in a Play Superior Donuts Saturn Awards March 8, 2026 Best Supporting Actor Superman Teen Choice Awards August 7, 2011 Choice Movie: Chemistry X-Men: First Class

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