Corey Hawkins, who has already played Dr. Dre, replaced Jack Bauer, fought the walking dead, and squared off against King Kong, will take on another huge role, this time in the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning stageplay In the Heights.
Hawkins will take on the role of Benny in the film, a taxi cab dispatcher who dreams of running his own business. Benny is the best friend of lead character, Unsavi, who will be played by Hamilton and A Star is Born‘s Anthony Ramos. Benny is also in love with Nina, who returns to Washington Heights after a year in college. However, her father happens to be Benny’s boss and is against them being in a relationship. The role of Benny was previously played by Christopher Jackson in the original Broadway production. He’s also the only character in the story who doesn’t speak Spanish.
Directed by Jon M. Chu from a script by Hamilton’s Quiara Alegría Hudes, In the Heights opens June 26th 2020. [Deadline]
