In 2013, Hawkins made his Broadway debut as Tybalt in a new production of Romeo and Juliet. In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Hawkins would join the cast of AMC's The Walking Dead as Heath, a key character from Robert Kirkman's comic book series. Hawkins played Dr. Dre in the Universal Pictures biopic Voice of the Streets, which premiered on August 14, 2015. He got one of the roles in the film Kong: Skull Island, which also starred Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson and Tom Hiddleston. Hawkins played the male lead in the Fox series 24: Legacy.