Corey Hawkins

Biography

Corey Hawkins was born on 22 October 1988 in Washington, D.C., USA. He is an American actor and producer known for his work in film, television, and theatre. He attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts before graduating from the Juilliard School, where he received the John Houseman Award for excellence in classical theatre.

Hawkins began his professional career with Off-Broadway performances and small screen roles. His early film appearances included Allegiance (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), and Non-Stop (2014). He made his Broadway debut as Tybalt in the 2013 revival of Romeo and Juliet.

His breakthrough came with Straight Outta Compton (2015), in which he portrayed legendary rapper and producer Dr. Dre. The film became a major commercial success and brought Hawkins widespread recognition. He subsequently played Heath in The Walking Dead and starred as Eric Carter in the television series 24: Legacy (2017).

Hawkins has continued to appear in prominent films, including Kong: Skull Island (2017), BlacKkKlansman (2018), 6 Underground (2019), In the Heights (2021), The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023), The Color Purple (2023), and The Piano Lesson (2024).

His theatre career has also earned significant recognition. He received Tony Award nominations for his performances in Six Degrees of Separation (2017) and Topdog/Underdog (2022–2023). He also received a Primetime Emmy nomination for his performance in the series Survive.

More recently, Hawkins appeared in The Man in My Basement (2025), in which he also served as an executive producer, and in Crime 101 and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (2026).