Corey Hawkins was born in Washington, D.C. on October 22, 1988. After being raised by his mother who was a police officer, he attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and graduated from the Juilliard School in New York City. He began pursuing his career in acting after he was recruited from starring in many Off-Broadway plays and guest starring on television shows such as Royal Pains and Golden Boy.
Hawkins officially began his acting career in 2012 when he was cast in Allegiance. Each year after that, he was seen in one of the biggest films of that year, such as Iron Man 3 (2013), Non–Stop (2014) and Straight Outta Compton (2015). He is mostly known for his work in Straight Outta Compton because of his role as the iconic rapper and producer, Dr. Dre. This movie brought more opportunities his way as he was also cast as a comic character named Heath on AMC’s The Walking Dead. He won the Hollywood Breakout Ensemble Award in 2015. Also that same year Hawkins became the new male lead actor in 24: Legacy on Fox. He also starred in one of the biggest films of 2017 as a major character in Kong: Skull Island. Hawkins deems himself as another influential African American actor on the way up. As far as his acting career is concerned, the movie and television audience have not seen the last of him.
Hawkins is single and residing in Washington, D.C.