By Christina Radish

Edi Gathegi at the premiere of "Twilight" held at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood, Calif. on November 17, 2008.

Now, Gathegi is starring in the frightening new Lionsgate slasher flick, My Bloody Valentine 3-D. In the re-imagining of the 1981 film of the same name, inexperienced coal miner Tom Hanniger (Supernatural star Jensen Ackles) caused an accident in the tunnels that trapped and killed five men and sent the only survivor, Harry Warden, into a permanent coma. Then, exactly one year later, on Valentine’s Day, Harry Warden woke up and brutally murdered 22 people with a pickaxe before being killed. Ten years later, Tom has returned to the town of Harmony on Valentine’s Day, still haunted by the deaths he caused. Struggling to make amends with his past, he grapples with unresolved feelings for his ex-girlfriend Sarah (Jaime King), who is now married to his best friend Axel (Kerr Smith), the town sheriff. After years of peace, an unstoppable killer, wearing a miner’s mask and armed with a pickaxe, is on the loose, and Tom, Sarah and Axel realize that it just might be Harry Warden, come back to claim them.

Gathegi recently took time out to talk to MediaBlvd Magazine about making a film in 3-D, how he’s looking forward to filming New Moon in the Spring, and his future hopes for his acting career.

MediaBlvd Magazine> How did you initially become interested in acting, and when did you know it was something you wanted to do professionally?

Edi Gathegi> I was a student at UC Santa Barbara and I was really interested in playing basketball. I was training with some of the members of the team and my knee blew out. I was rendered handicapped for a few months, and was really depressed because I had never been injured before and had never lost the use of my legs. I wanted to take an “easy” course, so I enrolled in this acting course and it wasn’t easy, but it was fascinating and I fell in love with it, and they encouraged me to audition for the BFA program, which was a conservatory intensive. I got in, and that’s when I decided that I wanted to make it my life. From there, I didn’t think I was ready to pursue it professionally, so I applied to grad school, got into a really great grad school, and then moved out to L.A. when I graduated.

MediaBlvd> How did you get involved with My Bloody Valentine 3-D? Did you just audition for it, or had they seen you in something and asked to see you?

Edi> I was in town for a day, auditioning for something else, in the middle of shooting Twilight. My agent said, “You have a same-day audition,” and I hate those because you don’t have time to prepare, but I grabbed the material. They said, “If you can make it, great. If you can’t, don’t worry about it. But, if you can, the director is in town today, and he would love to see you.” I got to the casting office and he wasn’t there. For some reason, he wasn’t able to make it. So, I just put a very rough tape together with the casting director and, apparently, they showed it to Patrick, who I think recognized me from House. He liked the tape and wanted to work with me, and then they made me an offer.

MediaBlvd> What attracted you to the film?

Edi> The movie being in 3-D was a definite draw, even for non-horror fans. It’s unlike any film that you’ve ever seen before, with the action coming right at your face. I think 3-D is the best medium for a horror film. It just doesn’t get any cooler than to have the axes actually flying at you. It’s terrifying!

MediaBlvd> Who do you play in the film, and what was it about the character that made you feel like you could identify with him?

Edi> I play Sherriff’s Deputy Martin. I just like playing different characters. If it’s a character that I’ve never played before, than I’m interested. This character is a cop, and I’d never really played a cop before, so that attracted me to the character. It was an opportunity to stretch myself in a way that I hadn’t stretched myself on film before. And, I thought he was the smartest character in the script. At first, he was the comic relief, and then they rewrote it and made him the watchman of the group. He’s one step ahead of everybody else, and he knows what’s going on. He feels out the truth. Those are always fun characters to play.

MediaBlvd> Had you been familiar with the original film at all? Did you want to go back and watch it before filming, or did you want to just create your character independently of the original film?

Edi> A good actor always does their research, and they’ll study all the source material for the projects they’re working on, but for some reason, I didn’t feel like it was necessary to watch the original, in order to portray the character in the remake. I was told that it was completely different and sort of unfinished, and that there were issues with the first film. I know it’s a cult film and a lot of people love it, so maybe it’s blasphemous for me to say that, but I didn’t think that it was going to help me to watch the first one. This story stood on its own, the characters were very clear to me, and there’s only so much you can do with it, so I didn’t feel like it was necessary.

MediaBlvd> Slasher films are so much scarier than horror films because horror films tend to have an element of the supernatural involved, which makes it less realistic, while slasher films are scary because most of them could possibly happen.

Edi> My sentiments exactly! That’s the reason why I decided to do this film, in particular. I am not a horror fan, but the script was so good. It was real three-dimensional characters that were fighting for their lives and the things that they want in life. There’s a love triangle in the film. There is a mining community that needs the mines to survive, in order for them to have a livelihood. And, there’s a real plausible killer who is a psychotic person and not just some strange animal that’s not realistic. Then, the 3-D aspect was a huge draw for me because the most fun I’ve ever had in a movie was watching Beowulf in 3-D. After having that experience, this script came along and I was like, “I definitely want to be a part of a 3-D movie!”

MediaBlvd> What was Patrick Lussier like to work with, as a director?

Edi> Patrick was such a great editor. I loved Red Eye. Red Eye was one of the most well-done suspense films that I’ve seen in awhile, and he edited that. And, he edited all of the Scream movies. I thought that he brought horror back. It was a win-win situation, and they did a really good job, making a film that’s bad-ass and fun.

MediaBlvd> Having come from such a strong editing background, did you notice that that affected Patrick’s approach to directing at all?

Edi> He was a guy who knew exactly what he wanted, which was such a refreshing experience to have with a director. He’s just a master. He’s articulate and he knows how to talk to actors. I don’t know if he went to acting school because sometimes it takes an actor to understand how to talk to actors, but he knew how to talk to actors. I just trusted him and loved him. He’s a great guy! He was so generous and so kind. I would bend over backwards for Patrick.

MediaBlvd> Was there anything different about the process of making a 3-D film?

Edi> That’s a technical question that you’d have to ask the cameramen, but on my end, I did my normal acting, and they would capture the acting on film. If there was ever a moment when they needed to have the 3-D prop come in the audiences face, they would have to set a convergence rate, and then you’d need to be very deliberate with whatever action that they wanted to isolate. It became technical, to that end.

MediaBlvd> Can you talk about the experience of working with your co-stars in the film?

Edi> I’ve been very, very lucky with most of the projects that I’ve worked on because I’ve just gotten along with the casts, and this project was no different. Kerr Smith plays the Sherriff and I’m the Sherriff’s Deputy, so he and I were partners through the entire film. Kerr and I would hang out all the time, and play late night poker with Jensen Ackles. We still stay in touch, to this day. I’m closest to Jaime King, from that set. We talk quite often. The cast was just lovely. I see Megan Boone because she lives down the street from me. The best part of working on the film was working with that cast. The cast was fun. Whenever I got the chance to work with them, it made the experience worthwhile.

MediaBlvd> Now that Twilight has had such fantastic success at the box office, how did the reality live up to the expectation for you, and how has its success affected you, both professionally and personally?

Edi> People are aware of my existence more now, as an actor, having been involved with a movie that has grossed $177 million. That means that either a lot of people saw it, or a handful of people saw it a million times. It’s just great! There’s nothing negative at all from that experience. The only thing that could be more positive is if I had a bigger role and could parlay that into another big movie. But, that will come to, so I’m not worried about that. The experience has been everything that we expected, and more. It was clear that it was going to be successful because there was just such a rabid fanbase with 350 websites and 17 million copies of the books sold. The evidence was there, and it showed very well. I’m impressed and I’m happy, and I’m excited to do New Moon.

MediaBlvd> Even though you had a smaller role in Twilight, you had a great presence in the film, both with your physicality and your appearance. Do you like to spend time, developing all those aspects of your characters?

Edi> Absolutely! I like to get in-depth. The fun of it is the detective work, and figuring out who the person or being is. I’m the kind of actor that, the more three-dimensional and intricate my character is, the more I can bring to it. I’m just waiting to sink my teeth into something, to show what I can do.

MediaBlvd> Since it’s the first time you’re revisiting a character, are you looking forward to playing Laurent again for New Moon, and getting to explore him a little more fully?

Edi> Yeah! I’m really looking forward to that. I get to say different things and it’s a different scenario, and I get to show a different side of my character. I love physically transforming, and that character made me feel sexy, so I get to don the sexiness again.

MediaBlvd> How do you feel about getting to work with a new director? Does it excite you to have the change?

Edi> I’m excited! This is the first time that I’ve gotten to revisit a character, and I haven’t had the experience of working with the same director yet either. It’s just par for the course. It’s the way the game goes. I know Chris Weitz is very capable, and I’m curious to see what he can do with the movie. I’m optimistic. I’m going to bring a positive attitude and put my best game forward, and we’ll see what we can create together.

MediaBlvd> What’s it been like to have all of the fan attention, and to be on billboards all over town? Do you ever have trouble keeping yourself in check?

Edi> I’m shy about the whole thing, so it’s not an issue with me. I can’t be seen within 20 yards of my billboard because I get embarrassed and I don’t want anyone to recognize me.

MediaBlvd> You’ve played so many memorable characters on TV, especially with Life on Mars and House. Is it difficult to find such complex, interesting roles? Do you feel you’ve just been really lucky to play the roles that you have?

Edi> Yeah, it’s luck. It’s God, or whatever you call it. I don’t know any other way to describe it, other than the right choice is usually the only choice that is made available to me. If I have six offers on the table and all of them are interesting, mysteriously, five of them will somehow disappear and the one that I’m supposed to do is the one that is available to me. The role on House was written for a Caucasian, but when they saw me, they thought, “Oh, how interesting!,” and that just made the character more dynamic, as an African American, playing that Mormon character. A lot of the roles that I’ve played actually weren’t initially written for a black guy, and that might add some aspect to the work that people get to see.

MediaBlvd> Has there been any talk of bringing Fletcher Bellow back on Life on Mars? Is he someone you’d like to revisit?

Edi> I’d love to revisit him. Yes, there has been talk about me going back, so we’re figuring that out right now.

MediaBlvd> If you had your choice, are there specific types of roles or genres that you’d like to do, that you haven’t gotten the chance to do yet?

Edi> Yes, biopics. I want to be able to sink my teeth into a real historical figure or character, and show the world a life that hasn’t been shown on film yet.