Welcome to Close Up. I'm Kelly Carter and I'm going to go ahead and start this

episode with the prediction.

Cory Hawkins will one day be one of the most recognizable actors in Hollywood.

I'm talking Will Smith Matt Damon status and I feel like I've been talking this

man up so much this week in particular that my voice is a little horse now but

here's the thing. You have actually seen Cory's work even if you don't think

you've seen his work.

We first really met him in 2015 and straight out of Compton that NWA

biopic where he expertly brought a young Dr. J to life.

And honestly that film forced this industry to see the power of black cast, black

directors and black storytellers. And in terms of the box office it earned more

than $200 million worldwide which made it the highest-grossing music biopic of

all time until three years later when Bohemian Rhapsody, that's the Queen

biopic, came along and took that crown. But you know what? Let's stay on task

because we're here to talk about Cory Hawkins.

Our lips are thick, our noses broad, our hair is not the we are black and we are

beautiful. Cory's done a lot of work since Compton.

He did Spike Lee's black clansmen which one Spike and Oscar and he did in the

Heights where he showed us he had some pipes that man can sing.

And it was recently announced that he would be playing the cruel Ordering

Mr. and the Color Purple reboot. Given all of that and the fact that Cory has

some solid training from Juilliard and when he was there he won the John

...