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Despite the fact that Hawkins’ career is taking off on television and film, he decided to return to Broadway because of the character he plays in Six Degrees of Separation and the opportunity to continue to grow as an actor. He explains, “I grew up a theater nerd — I actually grew up singing in the church first, that was my first love — and then in high school I was in musical theater and then, of course, they cut it due to funding, and then I ended up going into straight theater at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in D.C. I just think there’s something about coming back to the stage, man, just sharpening that tool and keeping that muscle firing, you know what I mean? And this character is one of those that’s sort of like a gymnast or an acrobat or an athlete — like, he’s a different guy in every scene — and I just thought it would be fun to do that right after coming off of a TV show. Fun, or scary as hell, and why not do it if you know if it scares you? So I just wanted to challenge myself and see where it took me, and I feel like a lucky guy.”

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