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Kenyan‑born actor Edi Gathegi has built a varied career spanning community theatre in California, respected TV dramas and global film franchises.
This July 2025, he brings his talents to the DC Universe as Michael Holt, better known as Mr Terrific, in 'Superman: Legacy'.
Born in Nairobi
Born Edi Mūe Gathegi on March 10, 1979 in Nairobi, Kenya, Gathegi's family moved to the United States when he was a toddler, around the age of three.
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Kenyan-born actor Edi Gathegi
He grew up in Albany, California, attending Albany High School and graduating in 1997.
He enrolled at the University of California, Santa Barbara, playing guard for the men’s basketball team until a knee injury prompted him to focus on drama.
Gathegi graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts in theatre arts from the University of California.
He later earned a Master of Fine Arts in acting from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2005, further grounding his transition from stage to screen in formal training.
During this period he appeared in stage productions at the Old Globe Theatre, including Two Trains Running, and took on roles in both Shakespearean and contemporary plays.
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Early screen roles
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Edi Gathegi on The Harder They Fall
Gathegi made his professional film debut in 2006 as a cab driver in 'Crank'.
In 2007, he appeared as Cheese in 'Gone Baby Gone'.
From 2007 to 2008, he joined the medical drama 'House', where he played Dr Jeffrey “Big Love” Cole, a research fellow at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, for seven episodes in Season 4.
He then entered the young‑adult franchise world, portraying Laurent, a nomadic vampire, in 'Twilight (2008)' and its sequel 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)'.
In 2011 he joined the X‑Men franchise as Darwin in 'X‑Men: First Class', a role that marked his entry into the world of big-budget superhero films.
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Kenyan Hollywood actor Edi Gathegi
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In 2015 Gathegi began appearing as Matias Solomon, a covert operative, in NBC’s 'The Blacklist', continuing the role into its 2017 spin‑off 'The Blacklist: Redemption'.
That same year he played Baron Jacobee in AMC’s martial‑arts drama 'Into the Badlands'. From 2016 to 2018 he starred as Ronald Dacey in Crackle’s crime‑tech series 'StartUp.
In 2022 he joined the main cast of Apple TV+’s alternate‑history space drama For All Mankind as NASA engineer Dev Ayesa in its third season, returning for the fourth season in 2024.
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DC debut in Superman: Legacy (2025)
Edi Gathegi as 'Mr Terrific' in Superman: Legacy (2025)
In July 2025 Gathegi appears as Michael Holt/Mr Terrific in 'Superman: Legacy', the first instalment in a series of films that will make up the rebooted DC Universe.
He shares the screen with David Corenswet as Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, among an ensemble of established and new DC characters.
Gathegi’s journey from Nairobi to Hollywood reflects a progression through clearly documented training, stage experience and credited screen roles.
He sharpened his skills at UC Santa Barbara and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, building a strong foundation before moving into TV, film and stage roles.
Over the years, he’s moved steadily from smaller roles in films and crime shows to recurring parts on TV, and now, to a key role in a big superhero movie.