Corey Hawkins

Corey Hawkins blew audiences away with his breakthrough role as legendary rapper Dr. Dre in 2015's "Straight Outta Compton" (2015). Born in Washington D.C. in 1988, Hawkins noticed his attraction to performing as a child while attending church with his grandmother, where he enjoyed singing in the congregation's choir. After attending high school at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Hawkins moved to New York for college where he enrolled at Juilliard School, receiving the John Houseman Award for excellence in classical theatre during his studies there. He subsequently began his professional acting career, appearing on an episode of the science fiction series Futurestates (ITVS, 2010-).

He moved to the big screen the next year with a role in the action thriller "Allegiance" (2012), before making his Broadway debut as Tybalt in a 2013 revival of "Romeo and Juliet." He would appear alongside Liam Neeson in the thriller "Non-Stop" (2014) soon afterward, with his landmark role in "Straight Outta Compton" appearing shortly thereafter. Hawkins next made a move toward TV with a major role on one of the most popular series of the moment, "The Walking Dead" (AMC, 2010-). He continued this trend when he was cast as the lead on the series "24: Legacy: (Fox, 2017-) in 2017.