Life and career

Hawkins was born in Washington D.C., where he attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He graduated from the Juilliard School in New York City, a member of the Drama Division's Group 40. While studying at Juilliard, Hawkins received the prestigious John Houseman Award for excellence in classical theatre. Upon graduation, he began a career starring Off-Broadway and guest starring on television. Hawkins garnered a brief role in Marvel Studios' Iron Man 3 and went on to star opposite Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore in Universal Pictures' action-thriller Non-Stop.

In 2013, Hawkins made his Broadway debut as Tybalt in the revival of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. And in 2015, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Hawkins would join the cast of AMC's The Walking Dead as Heath, a key character from Robert Kirkman's comic series. Hawkins played Dr. Dre in the biopic Straight Outta Compton, from Universal Pictures, which was theatrically released on August 14, 2015. He has been cast in Kong: Skull Island, alongside Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson and Tom Hiddleston. Hawkins has been cast as the male lead role in the Fox pilot 24: Legacy.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Digital Antiquities	Kai	Short Film
2012	Allegiance	Willie
2013	Iron Man 3	Navy Op
2014	Non-Stop	Travis Mitchell
2014	Romeo and Juliet	Tybalt	Filmed live performance
2015	Straight Outta Compton	Dr. Dre
2017	Kong: Skull Island		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Royal Pains	Busboy	Guest Episode: "The Shaw/Hank Redemption"
2013	Golden Boy	Evander	Guest Episode: "Young Guns"
2015-present	The Walking Dead	Heath	Season 6 (Recurring, 5 episodes)
2017	24: Legacy	Eric Carter	Pre-production

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2011	Hurt Village	Buggy	Signature Theatre Company
2011	Suicide Inc	Perry	Roundabout Theatre Company
2013	Romeo and Juliet	Tybalt	Richard Rodgers Theatre

Awards and Nominations

Year	Work	Award	Result
2015	Straight Outta Compton	Hollywood Breakout Ensemble Award	Won
		NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Nominated
		Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble	Nominated
2016		Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble	Nominated
		Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]