LaRoyce Hawkins

LaRoyce T. Hawkins (born May 4, 1988) is an American actor, stand-up comic, 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 ninth season. Hawkins also has a minor recurring role on the crossover show Chicago Fire.[2]

LaRoyce Hawkins
Hawkins in 2019
Born (1988-05-04) May 4, 1988
Harvey, Illinois, US
Alma materIllinois State University
Years active2008–present

Early life

Hawkins was born and raised in Harvey, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago. 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, where he initially played basketball.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

Career

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. He took a year-and-a-half off of school, returning in 2007.[6] He is a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. He graduated in 2012.[6]

Prior to Chicago P.D., Hawkins made appearances in various television series, including HBO's Ballers, TBS' Tyler Perry's House of Payne, MTV's Underemployed, and ABC's Detroit 1-8-7.

Filmography

Films
Year Title Role Notes
2008 The Express: The Ernie Davis Story Art Baker
2018 Canal Street (film) Amari Crawford
Hope Springs Eternal (film) Mr. Baser
2019 The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain Kenneth Chamberlain Jr.
2021 Hands Up Ty Lord

Shorts
Year Title Role Notes
2011 Reflection Royce
2013 Google Me Love Austin

Television shows
Year Title Role Notes
2011 Detroit 1-8-7[7] Dorcey Gamble Episode: "Ice Man/Malibu"
2012 Underemployed Episode: "The Gig"
2013–present Chicago Fire Officer Kevin Atwater Recurring role (12 episodes)
2014–present Chicago P.D. Main role
2017 Chicago Justice Officer Kevin Atwater Guest role (2 episodes)
2019–present South Side Michael 'Shaw' Owens Recurring role
Chicago Med Officer Kevin Atwater Guest role (3 episodes)

References
  1. "Actor Bio - LaRoyce Hawkins". NBC. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  2. Rackl, Lori. "Harvey actor LaRoyce Hawkins brings local flavor to 'Chicago Fire' spinoff". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  3. "It All Started Here: Chicago P.D.'s LaRoyce Hawkins". National Federation of State High School Associations. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  4. "IHSA Speech Individual Events Medalists". Illinois High School Association. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  5. "IHSA Speech Individual Events Medalists". Illinois High School Association. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  6. "Former Redbird stars on new NBC show Chicago P.D." 6 January 2014.
  7. "LaRoyce Hawkins of Chicago P.D." RedEye. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
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