The UB Interview: Keshia Knight Pulliam & Lance Gross Talk ‘House of Payne’

A new episode of “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” airs tonight, apart of Family Fun Night on BET at 9 p.m. ET.

In this season of Tyler Perry’s staple Comedy, “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” the Payne family goes through more of life’s ups and downs and unexpected circumstances with grace and laughter while learning a host of life lessons.

To start, Calvin, now a daily presence in Calvin Jr.’s life, is learning how to navigate raising a preteen who is testing the limits. Meanwhile, Calvin and Laura are on the outs, and he has no idea why.

The only clue Laura left him is a “Dear John” letter that leaves him more clueless and confused. In his pursuit of answers, Calvin solicits help from the most unlikely source: Miranda. Soon, they both learn that Laura’s discontent revolves around the very person helping Calvin investigate.

On tonight‘s episode entitled “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” When Calvin Jr.‘s mum can’t take him to the Mother-Son dance, Miranda and Laura compete to be her replacement.

Next weeks episode, is a special episode entitled “A Payneful Father’s Day,” Ella organises the women to plan a special Father’s Day for the men in their lives. Meanwhile, Floyd and Glo have their first argument as a couple.

“House of Payne” Stars; Allen Payne as C.J. Payne, Cassi Davis Patton as Ella Payne, China Anne McClain as Jazmine Payne, Demetria McKinney as Janine Payne, Keshia Knight Pulliam as Miranda, Lance Gross as Calvin Payne, Larramie “Doc” Shaw as Malik Payne, and LaVan Davis as Curtis Payne.

Aries from UB spoke with the multi-talented, Keshia Knight Pulliam & Lance Gross to talk about this season of “House of Payne.”

The interview took place the 40th anniversary week of The Cosby Show, Aries reminded Keisha of that date. Keisha shares some of her memories of pretty much, growing up on the set.

Lance talks about struggling on set and how he coped and the comparisons with “The Cosby Show” and “House of Payne.”

Keisha gets candid on how much love the show receives from the fans, regardless of race or religion.

Plus Lance talks about working the cast and how much they’re family and it’s real, and Keisha tells everyone why they need to be tuning into “House of Payne.”

In 1986, Keshia Knight Pulliam became the youngest actress to be nominated for an Emmy Award, receiving a nomination at age 6 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She made her professional debut at 9 months old, in a national print ad for Johnson & Johnson baby products. Keshia Knight Pulliam is known for her childhood role as Rudy Huxtable, the youngest daughter of “Cliff and Clair Huxtable” from the ages of 5 to 13, on the NBC sitcom, The Cosby Show (1984- 1992).

In 2008, she joined In 2008, she joined the cast of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, as Miranda, the new wife of Calvin Payne. The role earned her the 2009 and 2010 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2009, she played Candace “Candy” Washington in the film, “Madea Goes to Jail”. And in 2012, Knight Pulliam joined the cast of Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Lance Gross is an accomplished actor, producer, and photographer. He previously starred in the Fox TV series “Our Kind of People” produced by Lee Daniels and was previously seen as the role of ‘Lincoln’ on “Hawaii 5-0” (CBS); as a series regular on “Star” (Fox) as ‘Maurice Jetter’, the recurring role of ‘Billy Colton’ on ‘MacGyver”(CBS); and in Amazon’s “Too Old To Die Young” with Miles Teller (Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn). Lance has also been a series regular on “Sleepy Hollow’ (Fox), and the lead of the NBC drama “Crisis”. Lance starred in TV One’s “When Love Kills: The Felicia Blakely Story” directed by Tasha Smith; the BET anthology series “Tales: Trap Queen” directed by Benny Boom; and “The Bobby Brown Story” (BET).

He is the first actor to win four NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne.” Lance is also the creator, producer, and star of the MACRO digital series “I Turned My Camera On” (Essence) which combined his love of photography with a series of celebrity interviews. Other credits include the Tyler Perry film “Temptation”; the remake of “Steel Magnolias,” (Lifetime); alongside America Ferrera, Forest Whitaker, and Carlos Mencia in Fox Searchlight’s “Our Family Wedding;” and guest appearances on USA Network’s “Royal Pains.”