Kenyan Hollywood star Edi Gathegi turns sight to build home industry

In mid-March, Kenyan Hollywood acting juggernaut Edi Gathegi visited the country. You may have seen him as Bill Pickett in the Jay Z western production, The Harder They Fall, that also had Hollywood heavyweights Idris Elba, Regina King and Lakeith Stanfield.

The talented and versatile actor who has captivated audiences with his remarkable range and magnetic screen presence has just finished production on Season Four of Apple+ For All Mankind space series.

“In this universe, Russia lands on the moon first. It's an aspirational universe because it's more advanced. Socio-political issues and technology are accelerated, we’ve dealt with these issues sooner. The electric vehicle appears around in the 80s,” says Edi, adding that the show deals with family drama and also issues plaguing humanity like climate change.

Edi describes his acting as malleable. He has portrayed characters ranging from charming and charismatic to sinister and dangerous, always bringing depth and nuance to his performances

“I’m a chameleon in the type of work I do, but I’m also a chameleon in how I approach each role. The role tells me “You have to prepare for me this way, and it’s specific, unique and organic to that part. If the character has certain rituals that he performs, then I adopt those. I try to approach the roles as a blank slate. That means adopting their way of life for the time. I’m borrowing their essence.”

The actor, who just turned 44, was in the country to visit his father, Dr John Gathegi. He was also in the company of his wife who he married in 2018. Edi is very family-centric and that was evident from him celebrating belated birthdays with his elder Brother, at Graze Steak House at Sankara and how difficult it was to lock him down for an interview because he had promised to meet up with his loved ones first. He was also having meeting after meeting with different stakeholders in the creative and tourism economies.

When he finally was available, his brother had led us through the African-art-filled lobby of the Tribe Hotel, into clear glass-walled lifts that took us to the fifth floor and VIP wing that the actor was staying at. The lights were low and there was no music system playing or TV on. He was looking outside his window with something on his mind and a water bottle in his hand, but once he noticed he had company a warmness swept over and he was very welcoming.

Edi was making his first visit to Kenya following the passing of his mother Anne Wanja Gathegi on October 6, 2022 at the age of 66 in Tampa, Florida. It was also his first visit in five years.

“This is where I and everyone in my immediate family was born, except for our last born – she was born in San Francisco, California. It was equal parts important for me to reconnect with the land my mother was born in and the land that I was born in. It has been healing, in some way. It felt necessary for me to connect with the earth that brought her into this world,” starts off Edi, after we meet him at his suite at Tribe Hotel.

Edi’s mother had been his biggest fan. He had brought the idea of him wanting to go into acting to his father first, but the two were a team in helping him follow and cement his place in the professional acting space.

“They both experienced that quality in me that gave other people the idea that this is what I should be. So my mum was equally present in supporting me, believing in me and she would call me by my character-name that I was playing in television or film whenever I’d phone her,” expresses Edi, adding that his mother found so much joy that he was pursuing what was in his heart and finding some level of success.

“It was cute. It began as an inside joke that became a standard. If I called my mama, I knew she was going to call me by my character-name. It feels great. It’s the reverse of when someone gives you constant and subtle negative feedback. She gave me positive feedback and affirmations; I see you, I validate you, I think you’re on the right path, keep pursuing what’s in your heart.”

His dad would say the words out loud “You can’t quit!” but his mother’s love and admiration was his joy and pride that also kept him moving while pursuing “this incredibly difficult and impossible career at times”.

Losing his mother made Edi question his dedication to performing the craft he had spent time and effort to perfect; did he still love this now that he had lost such an important figure in his life? But the fact that his mother had seen it was in his DNA to become a storyteller made him redouble his efforts and not to walk away from the business.

While in the country, through various conversations with members of the creative sector, he became interested in learning where Kenya’s creative sector currently stands. Through multiple exploratory discussions, he was exposed to the real-time climate for creatives on the ground, the barriers holding Kenya back from achieving global recognition, and how he could leverage his experience and network to support the artistic community and grow the creative economy through strategic initiatives.

“I know what I want to do, but everything else (how to do it) is organic. It’s been about having conversations with people who have tried to make in-roads to support. Arts are very complicated in general because a lot of people think it’s not a profession worth pursuing. It’s incredibly unforgiving and difficult; a lot of people do not find success in the arts. But arts are essential to humanity. Storytelling is how we mark the time, connect, build community and you can change the world by stories,” says Edi, emphasising that the importance of the creative sector is pegged on the maxim that everyone has a story to tell and each story is valid.

Edi wants to have a part in helping share Kenyan stories with the rest of the world. The Kenyan government needs to give tax incentives to the film industry that will encourage outsiders to shoot in Kenya, especially for films requiring or referencing Kenyan backdrops. He also had conversations with local producers about creative ways for tradesmen and women in the sector to elevate their craft; by giving them opportunities to shadow productions that do come in from outside the country.

“My understanding is that it’s not easy for foreign productions to get support financially to come and shoot here. This is about making Kenya competitive and creating reasons for them to want to come,” says Edi.

In a previous article, we had pre-empted a scheduled meeting between him and the Kenya Film Commission board, that unfortunately didn’t materialise during this particular visit. However, Edi got to spend an afternoon with different celebrated Kenyan actors in an experimental acting class. The pilot project was held at Village Creative and it involved him passing along the information that he has been able to acquire abroad.

As an actor, Edi is extroverted by the nature of what he does. However, he is more comfortable keeping his head down and taking on the work seriously than with being in the limelight. Teaching is not easy for him, but a healthy exchange of ideas is; hoping the actors can walk away from the interaction having grown a little bit.

The GoDown is creating a space that will function like an academy, a home that facilitates and trains all forms of performance arts and types of artists. They will have a component that will see these artists working in the creative economy which excites Edi due to the holistic approach of all of the things he’s trying to do in the creative economy, which is capacity building.

“My projects here and at The GoDown Art Centre are about me learning what these creative sectors need and how I can fit in helping them achieve their goals. My goal is to help storytellers tell better stories: become better actors, make better films, and become competitive in the global market. Bi-lateral, co-production treaties need to happen and Kenya needs to partner with other governments to make it easier to come here and film, sharing the responsibility that will not only boost the Kenyan creative economy but also put them on the map and bring in more productions,” says Edi.

From being born then raised to the age of three years old in Nairobi’s Uhuru Estate to being a trailblazer for not just Kenyan but Black actors globally, it is not lost to Edi that his successes are nothing short of blessings.

“We came from nothing, and then I was blessed. It’s mind-boggling and I’m incredibly grateful. But I also don’t want to take away the fact that I didn’t turn the drive off; I grinded. It’s a combination of everything,” says Edi, underlining the importance of his reaching back to help.

Edi says he generally would advise artists who have something else they want to do to pursue that “something else” instead. Art is incredibly difficult and it’s a business of everyone rejecting you. If you don’t have the stomach for rejection, you’re better off in another field. But if you are truly an artist, then you can never give up. It’s a war of attrition and eventually a door will crack open, and when you walk through it there’ll be many others opening.

Edi is also a writer, producer and director. He says that he doesn’t give himself enough credit for his acting skills even though he had to put in his 10,000 hours in the elite acting training program to be the competent actor he is. However, dipping into these other areas, without as much competence, he says that writing is the hardest of them. Nothing exists before the writer puts pen to paper, and it is from this blueprint that every other department can then springboard from.

“I have tremendous respect for writers. None of the conversations begin without the script. The writer plays every single role in that movie. You have to craft the entire universe of your story,” he says.

In his acting, Edi chooses characters that make him look at the world differently. They have to make him learn something from a different perspective. Also, if it scares him to take on a role then he will pursue it.

“That means there’s growth for me by taking on the character. If it doesn’t scare me, it means I’ve already done it before.”

For the accomplished actor he is, there was a time he wasn’t totally sure about the trajectory his acting skill could take. Then he was cast to star alongside Hollywood greats Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris and Michelle Monaghan in the Ben Affleck directed mystery drama Gone Baby Gone released in 2007.

“I made the choice to audition for a role I wasn’t asked to audition for, and gave it my own take that wasn’t in the character description. That choice was validated by me getting the job and I was like “OK, I can make creative choices that go against the grain and I can change someone’s perspective in a positive way”. And then it was the encouragement by these Academy Award-winners telling me to keep going because they saw my work. That was maybe the most significant “if you ever give up, you’ll never know how far you could have gone” moment because these people who have gone the distance have told you that you can as well.”

From the very first time when most of the world got to see Edi Gathegi on screen as Laurent in the Twilight Saga movie series, Edi’s physical appearance has barely changed, as he seems not to age. When asked about how he has been able to “stop time”, Edi says:

“Joy and staying in my blessings, health and perspective is the true wealth. The fact that I’m alive, I try to live in a place where I am in-gratitude. I believe stress is the biggest killer and if you’re stressed out it ages you. I go to the gym, go to bed on time, don’t abuse substances and also try to eat healthy even though I don’t drink as much water as I should. None of us is going to be here forever, so it’s about what we are doing while we’re here.

As an individual who prefers keeping his personal life away from public scrutiny, how does he navigate this industry of global premieres, international award shows and sometimes months-long press runs, with cameras constantly in his face as questions come in fast and heavy?

“That’s the beauty of humanity. I can be all these things, but still have the desire to retreat. I enjoy my solitude, quiet time, meditation, reading and writing, but when duty calls I can still go on press junkets around the world,” says Edi.

Edi is excited that the culinary scene is bubbling up. When he was last here five year ago, he doesn’t remember having a Michelin-level meal.

“Chefs here are really coming with elevated cuisine. This trip, it feels at times like I’m eating at The French Laundry (Chef Thomas Keller’s fine dining restaurant in Yountville, California). But it’s also great to eat sukuma wiki, ugali from my aunties house. We had a feast the other night, and I'm still dreaming about the chipatis” says the actor.

Edi has a vast taste in music that he picked from his father’s rhumba collection, R&B bands of the 90s, and hip hop influence from his childhood.