Lance Darnell Gross (born July 8, 1981) is a Ghanaian-American actor and model. He is known for his role as Calvin Payne on the TBS/BET sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne (2007–2012; 2020–present), for which he won four NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Gross made his big screen debut starring in the 2008 romantic comedy-drama film, Meet the Browns. He later starred in films Our Family Wedding (2010), The Last Fall (2012) and Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (2013). On television, Gross starred as Secret Service Agent Marcus Finley in the short-lived NBC political drama series, Crisis (2014) and later was regular cast member in Sleepy Hollow (2015–2016), Star (2017–2019) and Our Kind of People (2021–2022).
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Early life
Gross was born in Oakland, California, the child of an African American mother and Ghanaian immigrant father, and later moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to attend and graduate from Bonanza High School. He went on to attend Howard University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in theater. He then trained at The Ivanna Chubbuck Studio as well as the Tasha Smith Acting Studio.
Career
Gross began his career by modeling for Karl Kani and appearing in music videos for artists such as Mary J. Blige, Rihanna and Mariah Carey. In 2006, he had minor roles in Eve and The Bernie Mac Show. He was consequently cast as Calvin Payne on Perry's new sitcom House of Payne in 2006. In the show Gross plays Calvin, a young professional who has attended college for seven years. He has been awarded four NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for this role.
