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LaRoyce Hawkins
American actor (born 1988) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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LaRoyce C. Hawkins (born May 4, 1988) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, spoken word artist,[1] and musician. Hawkins stars on NBC's police drama Chicago P.D., where he portrays Officer Kevin Atwater. The show is in its twelfth season. Hawkins also has a regular role on the crossover show Chicago Fire.[2]
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Early life and education
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Hawkins was born and raised in Harvey, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago.[3] His parents are Leah Bradley and Leonard Hawkins.[4] While Hawkins was growing up he lived with his grandparents until he was 13 and he credits them with shaping his life and the lives of his siblings.
Hawkins attended Thornton High School,[3] where he initially played basketball.[5] Influenced by his grandfather's advice to "choose what makes you feel better," Hawkins left the basketball team sophomore year and joined the speech team, where he became a two-time state champion.
In 2005, Hawkins won the state title in the Illinois High School Association's Original Comedy event, also placing third at the IHSA state competition in Humorous Interpretation. In 2006, he and a partner won the state title in Humorous Duet Acting, while Hawkins also placed fourth at state that year in Original Comedy.[6] He graduated later that year.[3]
Hawkins attended Illinois State University on a full tuition scholastic scholarship where he majored in theatre arts. In his first college play, he starred as Toledo from the August Wilson production Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. While in college, he landed his first major motion picture role in the feature film The Express: The Ernie Davis Story, the biopic of Ernie Davis, portraying Davis' teammate Art Baker.[4] He took a year-and-a-half off from school, returning in 2007 and graduating in 2012.[7] He is a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. [7]
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Career
In 2008, the same year Hawkins starred as Art Baker in the The Express: The Ernie Davis Story, Hawkins appeared in Tyler Perry's House of Payne.[4] Hawkins appeared in one episode of ABC's Detroit 1-8-7 in 2011.[4] In 2012, he appeared in an episode of MTV's Underemployed.[4] In 2013, Hawkins began appearing in a recurring role as Kevin Atwater in Chicago Fire. In 2014, Hawkins was cast in a main role in Chicago Fire's spin-off, Chicago P.D..[8][4] Starting in 2019, Hawkins began appearing in a recurring role in a second spin-off, Chicago Med. Hawkins has also made appearances in HBO's Ballers[9] and TBS' Tyler Perry's House of Payne. In 2018, Hawkins appeared in Canal Street and Hope Springs Eternal. In 2019, Hawkins was cast as Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. in The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain. Hawkins also had a recurring role as Michael "Shaw" Owens on the television show South Side from 2019–2022.[10]
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Personal life
Filmography
Film
Television
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References
External links
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