As soon as Edi Gathegi's character of Laurent arrived on screen in "Twilight," I had this strange feeling I had seen him in another role. He's an actor. So the the odds were high I had. But what had I seen him in?

Maybe it was the television show "K-ville." His long dreadlocks would have been perfect for the former Fox series. But that wasn't it. The Fox Network part was right. The show was wrong.

It never came to me while watching the movie. It wasn't until the next day, when Gathegi arrived at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel to talk about the film that it hit me. The dreadlocks were gone. A baseball cap covered his very short hair.

There was no doubt where I had seen him before.

It's Big Love!

Fans of the Fox series "House M.D." will remember Gathegi as playing one of the contenders last year to be on Dr. House's medical team. The character's name was Cole. But the always annoying House called him Big Love because the character was a Mormon. "Big Love" is an HBO series about a Mormon family.

Many "Twilight" readers could not understand how the black actor could be cast in the film. The Stephenie Meyer book does not specifically mention black vampires.

Gathegi tells me he came up with an answer that calmed many of his critics. He says the book mentions a vampire with olive-colored skin.

"I told them there are many types of olives. And I am a black olive. They thought that was genius. So now they are very supportive," Gathegi says.

As for the long hair that made identifying the actor so difficult, it was obviously a wig. And it was a very heavy wig: 50 pounds. While the wig made it easier for him to slip into the role there was a down side. It was tough enough to keep his head from falling to one side. He also had to keep his balance while dealing with the stunt work that made it appear his character was gliding along instead of walking. That illusion was accomplished by having the actors walk on a piece of Plexiglas being pulled at 30 miles per hour.

"It was a whole balancing act. But once I got it, it was a rush," Gathegi says.

Gathegi's work - from wig to walking - can be seen when "Twilight" opens Nov. 21.

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