For nearly 20 years, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne has provided audiences with an authentic look at the complexities of living with multigenerational family members.
Lance Gross and Keshia Knight Pulliam’s characters reflect the highs and lows of family life, blending love and humor. As Calvin Payne and Miranda Lucas-Payne, they explore the challenges of co-parenting and life after separation.
“Miranda is just navigating her new normal,” Knight Pulliam told Blavity. “She is dealing with the fact that she’s co-parenting. I keep telling everyone Miranda needs a boyfriend—she needs something—and then maybe one day we’ll… it’s getting sorted out. That’s all I’ll say.”
“But when you’re watching your ex-husband move on with life, co-parenting kids together with them, that’s a lot of what Miranda is really going through. I think she’s settling in, and the beauty is the friendship,” she continued. “I believe that Calvin and Miranda have, despite the ups and downs, despite everything. I can say that they’re really there for each other as human beings, outside of anything else. Miranda is just finding her new normal, figuring out how to continue to love and support Calvin and her child. It just looks different right now, but the love is definitely still there.”
Calvin Payne’s personal growth on ‘Tyler Perry’s House of Payne’
Gross shared how Calvin is experiencing significant growth this season.
“There’s a lot of growth in Calvin this year,” he said. “He’s starting to see through his own sons, he’s getting a taste of what his parents went through, and he’s understanding a little bit more—his place as a father. He’s dealing with a lot of complications with his son, Calvin Jr., and just anger issues that he’s trying to work out. In all, he’s growing. He’s co-parenting much better with Miranda. He’s just trying to find himself in all this. He’s trying to figure out if the woman he’s with is the right woman or if Miranda is the right woman for him, so it’s a lot of growth, and he’s just taking it as it comes.”
Life lessons from Miranda Payne
Knight Pulliam reflected on how portraying Miranda has influenced her personal life.
“Miranda has a lot of patience. She’s been through a lot, and I think patience is something that no matter how much you think you have it, you can stand to gain some more,” said The Cosby Show alum. “It’s the patience and also being allowing. Those are probably the two things that she helps me to keep to the forefront that I can continue to grow in.”
Evolving with Calvin Payne
Gross, who has played Calvin Payne since the show’s 2006 debut, shared how growing alongside his character keeps the role engaging.
“You bring so much of yourself to characters,” he said. “There’s stuff that isn’t you, but it’s been wonderful to grow with Calvin and see our scripts evolve. Calvin being in the house with his parents, living with his parents under their roof and messing up in class, to becoming a father and being married to being divorced, and figuring out this co-parenting thing. I’m learning a lot from him, and it’s great to bring these words to life. Each time we get a script as an actor, it’s joyful because we get to breathe life into these words.”
Tyler Perry’s House of Payne airs on BET.
