Edi Gathegi Discusses His Character, Mr. Terrific, From 'Superman'
Image Source: Cinemablend
James Gunn’s Superman was a dream come true for Edi Gathegi, who played Mr. Terrific in the film. The actor previously had a role in X-Men: First Class but his character was killed off early, making Superman a second chance for Gathegi. Gathegi has embraced the role, saying, “I’m levitating.” He promised himself that he would work with Gunn after seeing Guardians of the Galaxy and now he has a standout role in the film. Gathegi beat out 200 other auditioners for the role and had the distinction of being the first fan cast for the role. That fan cast inspired him to take a chance and go for it.
Gathegi looked up the character and summarized, “Fourteen PhDs, polyglot, polymath, auto-didactic, natural aptitude for natural aptitudes, Olympic athlete.” He continued, “But then there’s a big wound. He lost his wife, was on the verge of suicide, is visited by The Spectre, who educates him on the previous Mister Terrific, Terry Sloan, and he takes up the mantle himself. I thought, this is a character who’s equal parts d’Artagnan and Sherlock Holmes.”
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Image Source: IGN India
While Gathegi began with focusing on the character’s intellect and vulnerabilities, he didn’t neglect the brawn. He sought out a variety of strength training to bring his best to the role. Gathegi chose the natural, sustainable route in case this character is a long-term role. He described his process, “I did some Southeast Asian martial arts training in Kali and Silat with a brilliant martial artist Enelē Ma’afu Tauteoli and for the strength training I worked with one of the best trainers in the world – Paolo Mascitti – who pulled results out of me I didn’t know existed to the extent that they did.” The actor confirmed that he is signed up for a multi-project deal, but he has no specifics yet. However, he confirmed that he will not be in Lanterns, an HBO series about the Green Lantern. Meanwhile fans can catch Gathegi’s Superman performance on the big screen in theaters now.
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