Walking Dead’s Corey Hawkins stars on Broadway in Topdog/Underdog
By Renee Hansen
![LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 16: Corey Hawkins attends the Los Angeles premiere of A24's "The Tragedy Of Macbeth" at DGA Theater Complex on December 16, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 16: Corey Hawkins attends the Los Angeles premiere of A24's "The Tragedy Of Macbeth" at DGA Theater Complex on December 16, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/2d541bcdc7335842413bef372e6640b7d9bc2b2ffe87d9e1674bfad83732c4a9.jpg)
Corey Hawkins’ character, Heath, got a bad rap on The Walking Dead series. In season 7, Heath goes on a two-week supply run and is never seen again. In fact, no one ever asks what happened to him or mentions him ever again. Showrunner Angela Kang confirmed that he was taken by Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) and traded to the CRM. This is something that could have been mentioned in The Walking Dead: World Beyond to at least give some closure for this character. But, alas, it’s never happened, but Hawkins has gone on to make an extraordinary career nonetheless. Now he will star in the 20th anniversary Broadway production of Topdog/Underdog.
Deadline reports that Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will star in the 20th-anniversary production of Topdog/Underdog that Kenny Leon will lead. This play was written by American playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and premiered off-Broadway in 2001. The play premiered on Broadway the following year, earning Parks the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Outer Critics Circle Award. Parks, a playwright, screenwriter, musician and novelist, is the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer for drama.
Corey Hawkins in Topdog/Underdog
The story follows two brothers, Lincoln and Booth (Hawkins and Abdul-Mateen II), who were jokingly named by their father, in a “darkly comic fable of brotherly love and identity.” The brothers are haunted by their past as well as their obsession with the street con game, three-card monte.
The play will run for 16 weeks, with tickets going on sale on June 20, Juneteenth National Independence Day. Opening night is scheduled for October 20, with previews beginning on September 27.
In 2017, Hawkins starred in the Broadway production of Six Degrees of Separation, which earned him the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. He is well known for many memorable roles, including Straight Outta Compton, Kong: Skull Island, BlacKkKlansman, 6 Underground, In the Heights and many more.
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