Background:

Edi Gathegi is a Kenyan-American actor of television, film and stage. He is best recognized for playing the recurring role of Dr. Jeffrey Cole (aka "Big Love") in the television series “House M.D.” (2007) as well as for his performances in such films as “Gone Baby Gone” (2007, as Cheese), “Twilight” (2008, as Laurent) and its sequel, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (2009, as Laurent), and “X-Men: First Class” (2011, as Armando Muñoz /Darwin). He jointly picked up a Teen Choice nomination for his work in the latter film.     


Ed Lo

Childhood and Family:

Edi Mue Gathegi, who would later be popular as Edi Gathegi, was born on March 10, 1979, in Nairobi, Kenya. He was raised in Albany, California, and has an older brother and a younger sister. Edi was a good basketball player while at the University of California, Santa Barbara, but a knee injury forced him to leave the court. Fortunately, he found acting as a way to deal with his depression. Edi, whose nicknames are Ed Lo and Edi G, then studied at New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts. After graduating in 2005, he kicked off his career on stage.


Twilight

Career:

Edi Gathegi got his start in theatre. He played 66-year-old Elmore in August Wilson's “King Hedley II,” Malvolio in William Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night” and had a title role in a production of “Othello,” which he also directed. He was awarded the Santa Barbara Independent Theater Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the gay Andrew in “A Maiden's Prayer.” Gathegi  also appeared in other plays like “Macbeth,” “Two Trains Running,” “As You Like It,” “Cyrano de Bergerac,” among others, and wrote the play “Fade.”

Gathegi made his feature film acting debut as Haitian Cabbie in the 2006 action/thriller “Crank,” starring Jason Statham, Amy Smart and Carlos Sanz. In the following year, he landed a three episode role of Boa in the ABC Family drama series “Lincoln Heights” and guest starred as Zeke Molinda in an episode of “Veronica Mars” called “I Know What You'll Do Next Summer.” Besides, he played the recurring role of Dr. Jeffrey 'Big Love' Cole in the Fox hit medical series “House M.D.” (7 episodes, 2007).

Meanwhile, Gathegi could be seen in three films in 2007. He portrayed Cheese, a local Haitian drug lord, in the Ben Affleck feature directorial debut, “Gone Baby Gone,” which starred Ben's brother Casey Affleck and he co-wrote (with Aaron Stockard) based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, co-starred with Nick Chinlund, Isaach De Bankolé, Brendan Fehr and Marley Shelton in the thriller “The Fifth Patient” and played the role of Bodie in the film adaptation of Brian Garfiel's book, “Death Sentence.”

Gathegi gained further attention thanks to his role as dark haired, olive toned vampire Laurent in the adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's popular novel, “Twilight” (2008). Directed by Catherine Hardwicke and starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, the film was a huge box office success with over $392 million despite receiving mixed reviews from critics. He went on to reprise his role in the installments “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (2009) and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2” (2012, credit only).  

Gathegi portrayed Deputy Martin in “My Bloody Valentine” (2009), a remake of the 1981 American slasher film of the same name, worked with Edward Furlong, Peter Coyote and Miguel Ferrer in the comedy/drama film “This Is Not a Movie” (2011), which was written and directed by Olallo Rubio, and offered a notable turn as Eddie Willers in the flop “Atlas Shrugged: Part I” (2011). He was cast as Armando Muñoz / Darwin in “X-Men: First Class” (2011), the fifth installment in the X-Men film series, from which he nabbed a Teen Choice nomination for Choice Movie Chemistry.  

In the meantime, the actor kept his presence on the small screen by having guest spots in TV series such as “CSI: Miami” (2008, as Freddie Mays), “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (2008, as Skinny Dude), “Life on Mars” (2008, as Fletcher Bellow), “Wild Card” (2011) and “Nikita” (2011, as Kalume Ungara). He also co-starred in the made for TV film “Operating Instructions” (2009), opposite Emily Rose, Johnny Sneed and Christine Lahti.  

In 2012, Gathegi had roles on the shorts “ Neighbors” (as Lamay) and “Hawken” (video). He also provided the voice of Iggy in an episode of “Phineas and Ferb.”  

Recently, in 2013, Gathegi portrayed Leon on three episodes of the ABC drama series “Red Widow,” starring Radha Mitchell, Sterling Beaumon and Luke Goss, and Kyle in two episodes of The CW's series “Beauty and the Beast.”

Gathegi will star as Darren in the upcoming sitcom “Family Tools,” opposite Kyle Bornheimer and J. K. Simmons. The series is set to be air on ABC in the 2012–13 television season. The show is based on the British sitcom “White Van Man.”


Awards:

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