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Video: Corey Hawkins Wants to 'Plant the Seeds of Possibility ' on Broadway
May 17, 2024
In this video, watch as Tony nominee Corey Hawkins chats more about bringing theatre to younger audiences, why his role in Topdog/Underdog was so important to him, and so much more.
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What does today mean to you
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It means the world, man. It's like the nominations were just announced and there's like this really kinetic energy
0:21
in the air. It's all vibes. It's all positive, man. Just taking it all in
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I'm just really, really thrilled after such a great season. Really incredible work to just see everybody together again and be celebrated for that
0:38
The two of you nominated together. Yes. That must be the coolest thing, right
0:42
I'm so happy for my brother. It's his Broadway debut and he scored a Tony nomination, man
0:47
And I'm so sorry. I'm on my curse. I'm like so, so happy for him because I know what we had to go through or not go through
0:56
the work that we had to do night after night to give this story, to give Top Dog, Underdog
1:01
to the world. And people responded to it and to see not just Yaya celebrated, but Susan Lori Parks
1:10
see her celebrated and embraced in this way. It's such a meaningful thing
1:18
And also celebrating our leader, Kenny Leon, who got us to where we got to
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It's just a great day all around, man. Great day. Young audiences came to see your show and that must make you feel so great
1:32
They did. They did. And I think that was one of the most important parts of it for us, for Yaya and I
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We would go outside. We would hop on their school buses afterwards and just take pictures with them
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And some of them, it was their first time ever seeing a play, ever, let alone on Broadway
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So for our play to be that experience for them means a lot because the first show I
1:56
saw when I was a kid, they didn't look like me. They weren't maybe telling stories that I'd recognized
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So to do that for a young student or a young person is, again, planting those seeds of
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possibility and our complexities. And it was great to have those conversations after the show
2:18
Maybe back to a young Corey, really, really, really, really young. The first show you did and what would your older self tell your younger self
2:23
Oh man. Oh gosh. What was the first show I did? Well, I will say I did St. Louis Woman when I was 10 and I was this tall and I was working
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with none other than Wendell Pierce at City Center. And I just saw Wendell and we reminisce about it all the time
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And he always says I was the one, I'd always be the one giving everybody notes
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So I'd probably tell a younger Corey to just shut up and take in the experience
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But it was just, I mean, to be, and then Wendell went to Juilliard after and I was blessed
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enough to follow in his footsteps and Stephen McKinley Anderson's footsteps there
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And so I'm just lucky to be among such greats. You know what I mean
3:06
But I won't forget St. Louis Woman. Will never forget Wendell's performance in Death of a Salesman and back then in his whole career
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So just, yeah
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