Arts & Entertainment
Celebrity Interview: Corey Hawkins
see what’s going on a little
more clearly. Hopefully, this
film will continue the dia-
logue, because we definitely
attack the subject without
letting up, in the same way
N.W.A. attacked it back
then with the record Straight
Outta Compton.
KW: What message do
you think people will take
away from?
CH: It might sound like
a cliché, but what we re-
ally want is for people to
feel inspired. If you look at
what the people we portray
in this movie accomplished
and where they came from,
I hope people take away that
you can achieve anything. I
hope it inspires young kids
growing up in inner-cities
like I did to make positive
choices in the circumstanc-
es they were given. You feel
this movie. You feel L.A.
You feel the humiliation.
You feel the pride. You root
for them. You laugh. You
cry. You really go on a ride
without even knowing it. I
love seeing everybody’s re-
action to it, whether they’re
black, white, Latino or
Asian. It’s such a powerful
story.
KW: The bookworm Troy
Johnson question: What was
the last book you read?
CH: Your Face in Mine.
I was also reading The
Circle, which is sort of a
commentary on the dan-
gers of social media today.
It’s a very powerful novel.
Corey Hawkins in ‘Straight Outta Compton’
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
S
traight Outta Corey!
Born in Washing-
ton, D.C., on Oct. 22,
1988, Corey Hawkins stud-
ied acting at Juilliard before
making his big-screen debut
in 2012 opposite Bow Wow
in Allegiance. The next year,
he appeared in Iron Man 3
with Robert Downey, Jr.,
and in Non-Stop with Liam
Neeson the year after that.
Here, he talks about his
breakout role playing Dr.
Dre in Straight Outta Comp-
ton, a biopic about the leg-
endary rap group NWA.
Kam Williams: Hey Co-
rey, how’s it going?
Corey Hawkins: Awe-
some, Kam! Awesome! I’m
on cloud nine!
KW: What interested you
in Straight Outta Compton?
Were you a fan of NWA?
CH: Absolutely! I was
definitely a fan of NWA
growing up. I was a fan of
their music because it hit so
close to home. I grew up in
the DMV [Washington, DC
metropolitan area]. I always
liked their music and honest
music in general.
KW: How did you ap-
proach playing Dr. Dre? Did
you consult him for point-
ers?
CH: I spoke with him
every day. He was on set
every day. He didn’t want
me to imitate him or mim-
ic him or do an imperson-
ation. He didn’t want me to
stare at him and watch how
he moved. Because of my
training, he was willing to
trust the craft. He just want-
ed me to capture what NWA
spoke to in terms of their
lyrics and in terms of what
they were representing as
young black artists coming
out of Compton.
KW: I recently inter-
viewed Ving Rhames, who
also graduated from Juil-
liard. Are you also an advo-
cate of studying acting?
CH: Definitely! In fact,
Ving and I spoke at the pre-
miere, and he was very sup-
portive of me and very pos-
itive about the movie. He’s
a great guy! And, yes, I am
an advocate of what I did as
far as training, especially as
an African American in this
business. It’s getting better,
but there’s still that stigma
that we can only do one
thing. I hope to break down
that barrier and play whatev-
er type of character in what-
ever genre of picture I’m
interested in. But you need
the versatility to be able to
do that, and the versatility
comes through your train-
ing. I think Juilliard was a
great playground for that,
because you could be open
to anything. It was very dis-
ciplined, so you know, tech-
nically, how to get to where
you need to get to.
KW: It also helps when
you have colorblind casting
being encouraged by peo-
ple on the others side of the
camera, like writer/produc-
ers like Shonda Rhimes.
CH: Yeah, Shonda...
and the writer on Gabrielle
Union’s show, “Being Mary
Jane,” Mara Brock Akil.
There are so many differ-
ent writers and producers
behind the scenes who are
pushing for us now. That’s
what we need more of, the
people creating the stories.
We can’t expect others to
write our stories. That’s
where I hope to get one
day, and I look at Cube [Ice
Cube] as a mentor now, be-
cause I see what he’s done
with this film. Straight Out-
ta Compton isn’t just any
old rap biopic, but a story
about complex characters,
and that’s what you get on-
screen.
KW: The film is also very
timely, given its focus on
police brutality and the re-
cent rise of the Black Lives
Matter movement. Is that a
lucky coincidence or divine
intervention?
CH: It might be divine
intervention, Kam, because
this script had been circu-
lating for the past thirteen
years. It’s sad that the is-
sue is still relevant. Being a
black kid in Compton, you
shouldn’t feel like you’re
living in a war zone. As the
society devotes more atten-
tion to the issue, I think po-
lice officers are starting to
August 26, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 9