Corey Hawkins
Birthdate: Oct 22, 1988
Birthplace: Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Corey Hawkins (birthname: Corey Antonio Hawkins) is a powerful classically-trained actor who has performed in various roles, from Shakespeare to Marvel movies. Hawkins’ debut feature role was in the Iraq War movie, Allegiance (2012), written and directed by Michael Connors and co-starring Seth Gabel, Pablo Schreiber, Malik Yoba, Dominic Fumusa, Aidan Quinn, Shad “Bow Wow” Moss, and premiering at the Seattle film festival.
Hawkins’ next movie role was a supporting turn in writer-director Shane Black’s Marvel Cinematic Universe production, Iron Man 3 (2013), with Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau, and Ben Kingsley, grossing $1.2 billion worldwide, the fifth-highest total in box office history. Hawkins’ next supporting role was in the Liam Neeson-starring thriller, Non-Stop (2014), with Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy, and Michelle Dockery earning $223 million globally.
Corey Hawkins portrayed Dr. Dre in the acclaimed F. Gary Gray-directed N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton (2015), with O’Shea Jackson Jr., Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr., and Aldis Hodge, earning a knockout $202 million gross for Universal. Hawkins’ consistent choice of roles in hit movies continued with Warner Bros.’ adventure tale, Kong: Skull Island (2017), with Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, and John C. Reilly, and grossing $566.6 million globally.
Hawkins’ next historical Black American figure he portrayed on screen was Stokely Carmichael in one of Spike Lee’s most critically and commercially successful dramas, BlacKkKlansman (2018), starring John David Washington, Adam Driver (Oscar-nominated), Laura Harrier, and Topher Grace; the movie premiered at the Cannes film festival, went on to gross over $93 million gross worldwide, and winning the best screenplay Oscar for Lee (his first, along with his first Oscar nomination for direction, and four other nominations including best picture.
Corey Hawkins co-starred opposite Christoph Waltz, Vanessa Redgrave, and Annette Bening in the Waltz-directed drama, Georgetown (2019), premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival. Hawkins had one of his biggest roles to date in Warner Bros.’ disappointing big-screen version of Quiara Alegria Hudes’ and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical, In the Heights (2021), with Anthony Ramos, Leslie Grace, Miranda, Jimmy Smits, Melissa Barrera, and Olga Merediz.
Hawkins, a veteran Shakespearean actor on stage, took on the role of Macduff in Ethan Coen’s black-and-white version of The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), with Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Brendan Gleeson, Harry Melling, Bertie Carvel, and Alex Hassell, and theatrically released in limited form by Apple TV+ after premiering at the New York film festival.
Hawkins landed the lead role in the Universal/DreamWorks Dracula movie, The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023), with Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, and David Dastmalchian, and then co-starred as Harpo opposite Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, H.E.R., Aunjanue Ellis, Louis Gossett Jr., and Jon Batiste in Warner Bros.’ anticipated new film version of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple (2023), directed by Blitz Bazawule.
Hawkins joined the cast of John David Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, and Erykah Badu in producers Todd Black’s and Denzel Washington’s production of writer-director Malcolm Washington’s screen version of August Wilson’s modern classic play, The Piano Lesson (date to be announced), marking a reunion of the cast in the 2022 stage revival.
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Personal Details
Corey Hawkins was born and raised in Washington, D.C., by parents Eric and Grace (policewoman) Hawkins. Hawkins has one sister, Isabel. Hawkins attended and graduated from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and then studied drama and acting at The Julliard School, where he won the school’s prestigious John Houseman Award in his fourth and final year of studies. Hawkins’ height is 6’ 1”. Hawkins’ estimated net worth is $3 million.
Filmography
actor
Previous (8)
- 2023 | The Color PurpleasHarpo
The Color Purple
A woman faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.
- 2023 | Last Voyage of the Demeter
Last Voyage of the Demeter
Based on a single chapter, the Captain's Log, from Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel Dracula, the story is set aboard the Russian schooner Demeter, which was chartered to carry private cargo - twenty-four unmarked wooden crates - f...
- 2021 | The Tragedy of Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth
A Scottish lord becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he will become the next King of Scotland, and his ambitious wife supports him in his plans of seizing power.
- 2021 | In the HeightsasBenny
In the Heights
In Washington Heights, a sympathetic New York bodega owner saves every penny every day as he imagines and sings about a better life.
- 2021 | Georgetown
Georgetown
Ulrich Mott, an eccentric social climber, seduces and marries a wealthy older widow, Elsa Brecht. Although Mott is three decades younger than his wife, they join forces to dominate the political and social circles of Wathington, DC throwing lavish events at their townhouse in the fashionable suburb of Georgetown.
- 2018 | BlacKkKlansmanasKwame Ture
BlacKkKlansman
Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer from Colorado Springs, Colorado, successfully infiltrates the local Ku Klux Klan branch aided by a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.
- 2017 | Kong: Skull IslandasHouston Brooks
Kong: Skull Island
After the Vietnam war, a team of scientists explores an uncharted island in the Pacific, venturing into the domain of the mighty Kong and must fight to escape a primal Eden.
- 2015 | Straight Outta ComptonasDr. Dre
Straight Outta Compton
The rap group NWA emerges from the mean streets of Compton in Los Angeles, California, in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes Hip Hop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood.
Some Facts About Corey Hawkins
Stage Fame: Corey Hawkins has enjoyed a prestigious stage career, including acting opposite Orlando Bloom and Dola Rashad in the 2013 Broadway production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and being Tony-nominated for best actor in the 2017 Broadway revival of Six Degrees of Separation.
Singing Tennis: Hawkins sang “God Bless America” at the launch of the men’s singles final of the 2017 U.S. Tennis Open.
