Known from movies
Chicago P.D. (2014-2017)
as Kevin Atwater
The express train (2008)
as an art baker
Watchdogs (2014)
as an actor
Hope Jumps Forever (2017)
as Mr. Baser
Laroyce Hawkins is an American actor, musician, comedian and spoken word artist, whose ticket to fame was his role as police officer Kevin Atwater in NBC TV’s drama series, “Chicago PD”.
Early life and family
Of African American descent, Laroyce Hawkins was born on May 4, 1988 in the southern suburb of Harvey, Chicago, Illinois, USA, to Leah Bradley and Leonard Hawkins. He along with his brother, Lamar Hawkins, and a younger sister were raised by his grandparents until the age of 13, and has largely credited them for the kind of person he is today. Little else is known about his family.
Education
He graduated from Thornton High School in Harvey on a full academic scholarship. He graduated in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in theater arts from Illinois State University.
Career
First step
Laroyce was part of the movie “The Express: The Ernie Davis Story” while still in college. It was the biopic of Syracuse University football player Ernie Davis who became the first African-American winner of the prestigious Heisman Trophy in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Laroyce played the role of Art Baker, an All-American fullback and Ernie’s teammate; it was credited as his film debut.
After college, he landed small roles or cameo appearances in several television series, including HBO’s “Ballers” with Dwayne Johnson; “Detroit 1-8-7”, a police crime drama series starring Michael Imperioli, aired in 2011; and MTV’s “Under Employment”, a comedy drama series starring Jared Kusnitx and Inbar Lavi, aired in 2012. He also starred in a number of short films such as “Reflection” in 2011 and “Google Me Love” in 2013.
Further success
The actor was lucky enough to be a part of Dick Wolf’s Chicago series franchise. Dick along with other producers created ‘Chicago PD’, a spin-off of the hit TV series ‘Chicago Fire’, and also associated with ‘Chicago Med’ and ‘Chicago Justice’. The characters sometimes crossed over to the other drama series as part of the “Chicago Fire” universe.
Laroyce took on the role of a uniformed police officer named Kevin Atwater, who was promoted to the intelligence unit of the Chicago Police Department. It started as a recurring role in “Chicago Fire” in 2013 and was elevated to one of the main roles in 2014 when “Chicago PD” was made. The police procedural TV series just wrapped up its seventh season in April 2020 and was previously extended to season 10 as part of Dick Wolf’s new deal with Chicago Universal Television. The role of Laroyce is one of those characters that sometimes cross over to the other drama series, including ‘Chicago Justice’ in 2017 and ‘Chicago Med’ in 2019 to 2020.
He was not seen on the big screen again for mainstream movies until 2018 when he took on the role of Amari Crawford in the movie ‘Canal Street’, which centered on a young black teenager who was wrongly accused of killing a a white classmate, and defended by his father, who was a promising lawyer. This was shown over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend as part of the American Black Film Festival. That same year, he took part in an independent comedy film, “Hope Springs Eternal”, about a young girl who was diagnosed with cancer and took advantage of the special care given to her by everyone until she found out she was in remission. It was filmed in Chicago with Mia Rose Frampton and Stony Blyden, and later released on iTunes.
In 2019, in between filming Chicago PD, he was asked to appear in the comedy television series “South Side” airing on Comedy Central. He played the recurring role of Michael ‘Shaw’ Owens, and being a native of Chicago, the role was perfect for him as it was filmed in the Englewood area of Chicago. He appeared in seven episodes out of the 10 aired for the first season.
His latest film, ‘The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain’ is still in the post-production process. It is based on the true events that happened when police officers were assigned to check the status of an African-American man who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and was killed by the police officers.
He played the role of Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., the son of the murdered man.
Apart from his TV and film career, he occasionally appeared at open mic nights or comedy stand-up performances in different cities, to showcase his spoken word artistry and comedic flair.
Private life
Little is known about his personal life except that based on one of his Instagram posts, he has a three-year-old son named Roman John. In a 2016 interview with the online site Rollingout, he said that he was seeing someone special that he had known for a long time, but that he was not yet close to marriage plans and that he is still young.
How do we feel?
Posted by LaRoyce Hawkins On Thursday, March 14, 2019
He went on to say, “She understands there is growth that I need to do before being a man [I can be] there 100 percent. She’s special. I care about her…” At the time of writing, there is no more news about the lady, or an engagement or wedding.
Advocacy
Laroyce has been a motivational speaker ever since he realized he can give back to the disenfranchised communities through his voice, speaking at middle and high schools. He focused on encouraging young people to follow their dreams, by acknowledging the gifts given to them. He realized that his influence can reach more people by being in the classrooms, rather than just being on the television screens.
Interesting facts
- Laroyce’s life mantra is “Be Powerful,” and he often uses it in his social media posts. He had a connection with the word “mighty” because of his grandfather’s influence – he got a quote from his grandfather when he was still in college, and it stuck with him. The point is that when boiling water reaches 211°F, the water gets very hot, but if you add 1 degree Fahrenheit, the water will boil on its own. This part of the quote inspired him the most: “And if you get boiling water, you can make steam, and that steam is powerful enough to move a locomotive, so go that extra degree.”
- He looks up to actor Idris Alba as a role model and considers Jamie Foxx and Steve Harvey to be his comedic influences.
- The three qualities he looks for in a woman are a sense of humour, a strong belief in God and beautiful feet as he has a fetish for them.
- Laroyce is active on social media apps such as Twitter and Instagram.
Appearance
He is 1.91 m tall, weighs 80 kg and has an athletic build. He is of African American descent with black hair and black eyes.
Net value
Even before he had a successful TV career, Laroyce was performing at open mic nights and doing stand-up comic appearances since 2008. authoritative sources have estimated his net worth at over $1 million as of May 2020.
General information
| First and last name | Laroyce Hawkins |
| Date of birth | May 4, 1988 |
| Height | 1.9 meters |
| Profession | Actor |
| Nationality | American |
Performance
| Movies | The express |
| TV shows | Chicago PD |
Links to social profiles
Pictures
Movies
Actor
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire in Chicago | 2013-2016 | TV serials | Kevin Atwater |
| ballers | 2015 | TV serials | Rodney |
| Watchdogs | 2014 | Video game voice | |
| Google me love | 2013 | Short | Austin |
| Understaffed | 2012 | TV serials | |
| Reflection | 2011/IV | Short | Royce |
| Detroit 1-8-7 | 2011 | TV serials | Dorsey guess |
| The Express | 2008 | Art Baker | |
| Hope springs forever | 2017 | completed | Mr. Basser |
| Chicago PD | 2014-2017 | TV serials | Kevin Atwater |
| Justice of Chicago | 2017 | TV serials | Kevin Atwater |
| Special skills | 2017 | TV serials | LaRoyce |
| Boy band | 2016 | TV serials | Animation |
Yourself
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| The initiate | 2014 | TV serials | Himself |
