LaRoyce Hawkins
Chicago-born actor LaRoyce Hawkins made an initial splash in the film world with a supporting role in the football drama "The Express" (2008) before serving as a streetwise police officer in the popular NBC drama "Chicago P.D." (2014-). Born in the Chicago South suburb of Harvey, Illinois, Hawkins became interested in performing while attending Thornton Township High School. After graduation, he studied acting at Illinois State University, where he honed his talents at various standup comedy clubs. While still a student at the university, Hawkins landed a role in the football biopic "The Express" (2008), playing future Buffalo Bills fullback Art Baker. His duties on the film required Hawkins to take a brief hiatus from school, but upon completion of the film, he returned to his studies in 2007 and earned his BFA in acting in 2012 while also continuing to audition for and earn film, television and stage roles. In 2013, Hawkins was cast as Officer Kevin Atwater in "Chicago P.D." an action-drama series spun off from producer Dick Wolf's "Chicago Fire" (NBC, 2012-). Atwater and his fellow police officers and detectives, which included members of an elite intelligent unit assigned to fight major crimes, were introduced in the penultimate episode of "Fire's" first season before moving to their own series in 2014. The following year, Hawkins was also cast in a recurring role as a football player in Dwayne Johnson's comedy-drama series "Ballers" (2015-) for HBO.