Edi Gathegi is a Kenyan-American actor and producer. He was born in Umoja, Nairobi. His parents moved to Albany, California, U.S. when he was about 3 years old.
Growing up, he dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player, until a knee injury killed his dreams.
He later started taking acting classes. Even then, every time he watched a TV show or film, he would always say to himself that he couldn’t be as good as the actors on TV. Little did he know that he would grow into the actor that most of us love and admire.
During his career, Edi has appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows. His first cast was in the 2006 movie Crank, where he played as the Haitian Cabbie.
I especially loved him on Beauty and The Beast as Agent Kyle, and his role as Matias Solomon in The Blacklist.
How he just takes on a character and blends in to the role so naturally is something most actors can only dream of.
I took the time to compose a list of some of his most famous TV works. Let’s have a look.
1. StartUp
StartUp follows the lives of three people, a banker, hacker and thug who start a cryptocurrency business together with the intent to make money fast and get out of poverty.
With their own investments and outsourced help, they are able to climb to the top, but it doesn’t come with shortage of challenges.
Conflict of interest, selfishness, thirst for more, individual security risk and lack of communication threatens the continued success of this partnership.
Gathegi stars as the thug, Ronald Dacey, alongside Adam Brody, Otmara Marrero, Martin Freeman, Ron Perlman, Addison Timlin, and Mira Sorvino in this thrill-packed Netflix series.
The show run from 2016-2018.
2. Princess Of The Row
This 2019 film tells the tale of a runaway foster child who is determined to live with her homeless, mentally ill father.
The father, Sergeant Beaumont ‘Bo’ Willies III, suffered injury to the brain while in battle in Iraq. He also suffers from PTSD.
Alicia Willies, his 12-year-old daughter has just had enough with just bouncing around from one foster care to the next, and is now doing everything she can to skip town with Bo.
Edi plays the character ‘Bo’ Willies, which earned him three individual awards and four shared awards in 2019.
3. For All Mankind
For All Mankind is a 2019 sci-fi TV series with a 1969 setting.
It depicts an alternate timeline where Alexei Leonov is the first human to land on the moon, contrary to what actually happened.
This pushes U.S. to try and have NASA send one of its people to the moon.
In an attempt to be the best, both Russia and U.S. strife to train women for the trip to the moon.
Edi Gathegi joined the series in season 3, taking a main character role as Dev Ayesa, founder of a private space company called Helios Aerospace whose aim is to reach Mars before any other nation’s organization.
4. The Blacklist
Created by Jon Bokenkamp, The Blacklist is an American action-packed crime drama. It premiered on NBC on 23rd September 2013.
The act is set in modern day Washington DC.
The most wanted man in America, Raymond Reddington, otherwise known as The Concierge of Crime, provides a special FBI taskforce with the list of notorious criminal who’ve managed to hide from the eye of the law.
One such criminal is Matias Solomon, played by Edi Gathegi, who was a recurring character as an operative for the Cabal, a covert organization that was deep-seated in the government.
Edi managed to portray one of the best recurring villains the season had.
5. Caged
Caged was first released in March 2020. It’s about a psychiatrist, Dr. Harlow Reid, who is found guilty of killing his own wife and is sent to federal confinement.
While in prison, he is transferred to solitary, where she is abused by a female guard exerting her own justice.
Edi plays the lead cast as Dr. Harlow Reid.
6. The Last Thing He Wanted
This film is based on the novel The Last Thing He Wanted, written by Joan Didion in 1996.
It follows the story of Elena McMahon, who travels to Central America to broker an arms deal on behalf of her father, who traffics illegal contrabands. However she ends up caught in the middle of a government conspiracy.
Edi Gathegi plays Jones, a designated arms buyer who later saves Elena’s life.
7. Pimp
Based on a true story, Pimp follows the life of a female pimp, Wednesday, who uses tricks to make money to support her mom, girlfriend, and herself.
And just when everything seems to be going alright, a male pimp, Kenny Wayne, played by Edi Gathegi, who possess a real threat to her hustle by running a more dangerous game.
Wednesday now has to give her all if she is to secure her and her girls’ ticket of ghetto.
8. The Blacklist: Redemption
The Blacklist: Redemption is a spin-off series from The Blacklist.
Edi Gathegi plays the mercenary Matias Solomon alongside Famke Janssen, Ryan Eggold, Tawny Cypress and Adrian Martinez.
9. The Watcher
The Watcher is a horror movie released in October 2016.
It is about a couple, Emma and Noah, who relocate to Los Angeles where they purchase a house.
Soon after moving in, they begin to receive threatening letters forcing them out of the house. In the meantime Emma begins to hallucinate.
Edi Gathegi played lead actor as Noah.
10. Beauty And The Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a suspense-filled science fictional series.
It follows the love story of Catherine Chandler, a police detective, and Vincent Keller, a victim of a science experiment who has been in hiding for over a decade and presumed missing.
The organization that created him, Muirfield, will do anything to hide the truth about their failed attempts of making the super soldiers.
Edi Gathegi played the recurring role of Kyle, a top agent of Muirfield.
He is heartless, ruthless, and will go to any lengths to manipulate situations and have his way.
Aside from his instincts that complement his killer looks, he values his time above all else.
11. Better Start Running
Better Start Running is a comedy film.
It is about a store clerk, Harley, who takes an adventure by following a mysterious map while on the run with his girlfriend, grandfather and hitchhiker.
However, two FBI agents on the hunt for them are closing in real fast.
Edi appears as Fitz Paradise, a stranger hitchhiker who joins the gang in this crazy fun-filled adventure.
12. The Harder They Fall
This film follows the life of Nat Love, who witnessed the murder of his parents while he was only 11 years old.
After 20 years, Love has already become an outlaw, and kills one of the men involved in his parents’ murder.
He later teams up with his gang to exert revenge on the man who killed his parents first hand.
Edi Gathegi plays the role of Sharpshooter Bill Pickett, one of Love’s partner.
Closing Thoughts
Edi has starred in many more films and TV shows over the years of his acting career.
He was in New Tricks’ Russian Cousin episode, and appeared as a recurring character in House and Into The Badlands series.
He has also been featured in the first two movies in The Twilight Saga, X Men: First Class, and Death Sentence.
