LaRoyce Hawkins of Chicago P.D. Shares Insights on Atwater’s Baby News
The Chicago P.D. team is about to expand — and become a lot cuter — as a character reveals her pregnancy in the latest episode!
Warning: Spoilers ahead from Chicago P.D. season 13, episode 11.
In the episode that aired on Wednesday, January 28, on NBC, Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) received some unexpected news: he’s going to be a dad!
Throughout the episode, Atwater grappled with what to text his fellow officer Tasha Fox (Karen Obilom), with whom he reconnected earlier this season before her relocation to Miami. Tasha surprised him by visiting his home unannounced.
Though taken aback, Atwater was delighted to see her, saying, “I want to see you. I want to get to know you better.” After a kiss, Tasha dropped the pregnancy bombshell.
“I should’ve told you sooner, but I wanted to figure things out first. I thought about it a lot, and I want this baby,” Tasha told Atwater. “Regardless of whether you’re in our lives or not, this baby is happening, and that’s not going to change. But since you reached out, I thought maybe … Kevin, are you OK?”
Atwater simply smiled upon learning he’s going to be a father, though Hawkins, 37, admitted that Atwater’s milestone does make him a bit “nervous.”
“I’m very excited. But I’m also nervous,” Hawkins shared during the Thursday, January 29 episode of the “One Chicago Podcast.” He noted, “It’s similar nerves to those you experience in real life.”
Hawkins noted that upon learning about Atwater’s new journey, he consulted with executive producer Chad Saxton for guidance on bringing depth to the character, considering he now has more at stake.
“In the very next episode, I asked Chad to keep me informed, saying to him, ‘There’s a stark contrast between a guy who solves crimes and saves lives and a guy doing the same who is about to become a father,’” Hawkins shared with podcast host Brian Luce. “Chad is helping me navigate the little nuances.”
Hawkins admitted that while fatherhood won’t be a constant theme on the show, he’s intrigued by how it will shape Atwater’s development in the future.
“There’s a characteristic to fatherhood in crime dramas where optimism prevails. You know, I’m hopeful everything will turn out well,” he said. “It’s tricky to predict, but much like parenthood, you never know what to expect.”
Outside of his journey to fatherhood, fans have been eagerly anticipating Atwater’s romantic arc — and showrunner Gwen Sigan has previously teased that it’s on the horizon.
“Romance is definitely on the table,” Sigan affirmed to Us Weekly earlier this month, hinting that the recently aired episode is just the beginning.
Sigan elaborated that Atwater’s first encounter with Tasha — stemming from their past as academy friends paired for a beat when a bombing took place in Chicago — “created a challenge” for him, prompting introspection about what he truly seeks in life.
“She made it clear, ‘I’m leaving Chicago for good,’ yet she knew what she wanted,” Sigan remarked regarding Tasha’s mindset during episode 5. “[For Atwater], her urging him with questions like, ‘What do you want?’ causes him to reflect more deeply.”
Sigan ended with a tease: “We’ve got more planned for his romantic journey in the future after this week’s ‘really enjoyable episode.’”
In terms of Atwater’s romantic endeavors, Hawkins shared during Thursday’s podcast that his character can be “poetic at times” and is quite the romantic at heart.
He then revealed the message Atwater finally sent to Tasha that encouraged her return to Chicago.
“What I sent was something like: ‘From the heart to the first responder. If you ask me what I desire and truly need. 390-full speed, bullet green. I just want to embrace the essence of my dreams. Is there a handbook for seizing opportunities? My challenge is that I miss the way you see the world. Like a gentle kiss. You can truly make the invisible seem significant. Excuse my delay, but hurry and take your time because you initiated this. From my heart to the first responder,’” Hawkins shared on the podcast.
Chicago P.D. broadcasts on NBC every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET.
