Lance Gross

Lance Darnell Gross is a Ghanaian-American actor and model. He is best known for portraying Calvin Payne on the sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne, a role that earned him widespread recognition including four NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Gross was born in Oakland, California, to an African American mother and a Ghanaian immigrant father. He later relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he graduated from Bonanza High School. He pursued higher education at Howard University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in theater, and subsequently received acting training at the Tasha Smith Acting Studio and The Ivanna Chubbuck Studio.

His career began in modeling for Karl Kani, as well as featured appearances in music videos for prominent musical artists including Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, and Rihanna. Gross secured his early television opportunities in 2006 with minor roles on the shows Eve and The Bernie Mac Show. Later that year, he joined the original cast of Tyler Perry's House of Payne as Calvin Payne, playing a young professional who attended college for seven years.

Gross expanded his work into feature films with his big screen debut in the 2008 romantic comedy-drama Meet the Browns alongside Angela Bassett. He followed this with a starring role in the 2010 romantic comedy Our Family Wedding with America Ferrera. In 2012, he appeared in the Lifetime remake of Steel Magnolias and starred in the independent drama The Last Fall as a retired NFL player facing personal challenges. He also starred in the 2013 Tyler Perry romantic drama Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor.

On television, Gross took on main and regular roles in several network programs, portraying Secret Service Agent Marcus Finley in the NBC series Crisis in 2014, and subsequently appearing in Fox's Sleepy Hollow, the musical drama Star, and the drama series Our Kind of People. He also made guest or recurring appearances on series such as Grey's Anatomy, MacGyver, Hawaii Five-0, The Bobby Brown Story, and the spin-off series The Paynes.

His additional film credits include the Netflix crime drama Deuces, the 2017 biographical drama When Love Kills: The Falicia Blakely Story, the 2021 feature Dutch, the 2022 romantic comedy Unthinkably Good Things, and the 2023 action thriller Call Her King.