Corey Hawkins born October 22 1988 is an American actor He is perhaps best known for playing Dr Dre in the 2015 biopic film Straight Outta Compton Hawkins was born in Washington DC where he attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts He graduated from the Juilliard School in New York City a member of the Drama Divisions Group 40 While studying at Juilliard Hawkins received the prestigious John Houseman Award for excellence in classical theatre Upon graduation he began a career starring OffBroadway and guest starring on television Hawkins garnered a brief role in Marvel Studioss Iron Man 3 and went on to star opposite Liam Neeson andJulianne Moore in Universal Pictures actionthriller NonStop In 2013 Hawkins made his Broadway debut as Tybalt in the revival of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet And in 2015 The Hollywood Reporter announced that Hawkins would join the cast of AMCs The Walking Dead as Heath a key character from Robert Kirkmans comic series Hawkins played Dr Dre in the biopic Straight Outta Compton from Universal Pictures which was theatrically released on August 14 2015 He has been cast in Kong Skull Island alongside Brie Larson Samuel L Jackson and Tom Hiddleston