Tyler Perry's House of Payne - Cast - Main Cast

Main Cast

• Curtis Payne (LaVan Davis) is the show's main protagonist. He is often referred to as Uncle Curtis by his nephew C.J., his nephew's wife Janine, and their children, Malik and Jazmine. Curtis is known for his hackneyed jokes, overly loud delivery, and acting like a negative racial stereotype. He is overweight and has fainted once from a blocked artery, but he ignored the diet his wife Ella set for him, and is unable to stay away from his usual fatty foods. A noticeable running gag is when he jokingly pushes Ella to the side with one arm when he wants to go by, she usually lands on the sofa. Despite his immaturity in this matter, his maturity and responsibility are apparent in his job as the chief of the local fire department. In one episode, his middle name was revealed as Booker T. In the sixth season, Curtis was forced to retire; his nephew C.J. took over his job. LaVan Davis won an NAACP Image Awards in 2008 for Outstanding Actor In A Comedy Series for this role. In the first part of the series finale, "The Call Back", CJ asks Curtis to come out of retirement to oversee three departments that CJ runs. At first Curtis refuses to do it, and yells at CJ saying how they already forced him into retirement, and that he wasn't going back, but at the end of the episode, after talking with Ella, he decided to return.

• Ella Payne (née Ella Williams) (known as Ella Williams in episode "Til Payne Do We Part") (Cassi Davis), is Curtis's wife. She is a stay-at-home mother and the voice of reason. Curtis has been known to take advantage of Ella's good nature—and to be punished for it. Ella is the family's religious voice and the glue that holds it together. A good cook, she had a restaurant service in one episode. She is quick to offer emotional and moral support to everyone in the family, such as when Janine returned home. In Season 5, she briefly worked in retail. In Season 6, she quits to go back to school. Ella graduated college and finally got her degree in Season 7. It is revealed that her middle name is Naomi. She tries to keep the family at peace the best she can, whether it's big or small. In the Season 8 episode "RIP: Rest in Payne", she keeps complete faith for her son Calvin, when she hears that he got shot in C.J. and Janine's home. She loves her family and wants her husband to keep her safe and stand by her which he does.

• Clarence James (C.J.) Payne, Jr. (Allen Payne) and his family moved into the home of his Uncle Curtis and Aunt Ella when their own house burned down after his wife Janine accidentally started a fire while under the influence of drugs. C.J. is the father of Malik, Jazmine, Jayden, and Hayden Payne. These last two are the twin son and daughter born to Janine and C.J. after they reconciled and remarried. In the fourth season, C.J. found out he was adopted. He works at the firehouse with Curtis. At the end of the fifth season, he, Janine, and the twins moved to Chicago, but they returned in the sixth season after he was offered Curtis' job, and the family moved in next to Curtis and Ella. Despite being angry with and hostile towards her upon her return, C.J. never stopped loving Janine. In the early seasons, C.J. often has difficulty enforcing discipline with his children, but it is apparent that he is slightly more strict and hot-headed, often jumping to the wrong conclusions. In the Season 6 episode "Who's Your Daddy Now?", C.J. finally met his real father who happened to be white, making C.J. biracial. In Season 7, he was promoted to fire chief commissioner. He also became the boss of Janine and Roland in the public relations department. C.J. was portrayed as Curtis and Ella's son in the series' original format, but his character was changed to being their nephew.

• Calvin Payne (Lance Gross) is Ella and Curtis's college-age son who rarely attends the same courses Curtis often complains about financing. Calvin liked to think of himself as a player until he married Miranda. Like his cousin C.J., Calvin spends much time working with Curtis at the firehouse until he becomes a partner at the barbershop. In the fifth season, he gets a job working for the same company as Mercedes and she accidentally kisses him twice: once while they are chaperoning Malik and Alexandra's date; the other, after Calvin has a fight with Miranda. He finds out that he has a son, Calvin Jr., from his former girlfriend Tracy. He and Miranda are expecting a child when she decides they should separate, but they agree to try counseling. They get stuck in an elevator and solve their problems with help from an "elevator lady" Edi who turns out to be Dr. Marcos, the marriage-retreat counselor. Calvin was arrested for back child support, but was bailed out of jail before the birth of his child with Miranda in the episode Payneful Resolution Resolution. In Season 7, Calvin briefly had a job as a manager of a supermarket. He then started working in the public relations department with C.J., Janine and Roland in Season 8. Calvin is the only main character who was originally not included in the show. In the season 8 episode "God Bless the Paynes", Calvin gets shot by a man who had harassed Miranda. The man saw the shooting as a way to get revenge at Calvin for beating him up. Calvin is later found by Janine and is rushed to the hospital in "Do or Die". He survives, but with serious injuries. In the series finale, "All's Well", his wife, Miranda, demands a divorce. The very last scene shows Calvin throwing a vase of flowers at the wall, and the series ends with the camera zoomed in on broken glass and rose petals.

• Malik Payne (Larramie "Doc" Shaw) is C.J. and Janine's college-aged son. He is a young adult whose interest in young women in his class is so extreme that he'll resort to desperate measures, such as trying out for the cheerleading squad, just to associate with them. Initially, he was often bullied in school as a result of his mother's drug problems. As a result, he is reluctant to welcome her back to the household. It is hinted that he is allergic to peanuts and that he knows how to cut hair. Beginning with the sixth season, Malik has appeared infrequently, due to Larramie Shaw's work schedule, as he also starred on The Suite Life on Deck on Disney Channel and Pair of Kings on Disney XD. His absence is incorporated into the storyline, as he goes to the ROTC during Season 6 and off to college during Season 7, which is a major continuity error as he advanced from elementary school to college in 4 years. As he prepared to go to college, C.J., Calvin, Curtis, and Floyd bought him three boxes of condoms because they were sure he would be experimenting with sex in college. His sister Jazmine was upset about him leaving for college. While in college, he dates a girl named Summer (Makeda Declet). Malik then marries Summer just that they can have sex. Summer then wants a divorce from Malik to transfer to a college in New England. But since Malik and Summer have only been married for a few weeks, they are qualified for an annulment and that's how their marriage ended.(Seasons 1–5, infrequently in Seasons 6-8)

• Jazmine Payne (China Anne McClain) is C.J. and Janine's daughter. She constantly feels invisible and acts out to get her father's attention while her mother is in rehab. At one point, Jazmine had a brief crush on Malik's friend Kevin. Despite her apparent innocence and youth, throughout the series, she was known to be cruel and mean toward Malik and Kevin and schemed to make them miserable. She is also known to have sarcastic comments and sly plans to get what she wants. For undisclosed reasons, China Anne McClain was written out of the series during Season 5, which made her the only cast member to not appear in Season 5. She was re-introduced into the series when she returned in the sixth season. It is hinted that she has a fear of mimes that wear hats. On the premiere of the seventh season, she is 12 years old, and Janine lets her wear lip gloss, and she falls in with the wrong crowd. Jazmine has made infrequent appearances since the seventh season, due to China Anne McClain's work schedule, as she also stars in A.N.T. Farm on Disney Channel. (Seasons 1–4, 6, infrequently in Seasons 7-8)

• Janine Payne (née Janine Shelton) (Demetria McKinney), is C.J.'s wife and the mother of Malik, Jazmine, Jayden, and Hayden Payne. A seemingly responsible adult and mother at the series' very beginning, she is later revealed to be a drug addict and the arsonist who burned down her and C.J.'s home. She and C.J. divorce after she leaves her family. Initially, she was only a recurring character and was rarely seen in the series except in episodes where she associates with Ella Payne, who helps her enter a rehab program and return to the family. Later in the series, she is often criticized by C.J., Curtis, and Malik for her irresponsible actions. She is apparently impregnated by her boyfriend, until an episode reveals that he's sterile. Since C.J. is the only other person, she has had intercourse with (in an earlier episode, where they were intimate when C.J. was drunk), she realizes that C.J. is the father of the coming child. C.J. and Janine remarry at Calvin and Miranda's wedding; almost immediately her water breaks and she gives birth to twins Jayden and Hayden Payne. Janine's parents are Larry and Liz Shelton. She and C.J. now live in their own home with their four children. In seasons 6-7, her role in the series has grown more central as she focuses more on her career than her home life—and becomes the target of romantic interest from her boss Roland until C.J. gets promoted to commissioner and becomes both Janine and Roland's boss and makes them keep their relationship professional. From that point on, C.J. and Janine both have the same job together and are able focus on both their career and home life together. (Infrequently in first two seasons)

• Miranda Payne (née Miranda Lucas) (Keshia Knight Pulliam) is Calvin's girlfriend-turned-wife. She was first introduced in Season 1 as a con artist who stole all of Calvin and Curtis' money for an art gallery. The character returned eventually, but what she did to Calvin and Curtis is only very briefly, infrequently, mentioned. She and Calvin married in the Season 4 conclusion. Miranda has a very troubled nephew; when Calvin was supposed to be in charge of the boy, it was actually the boy who ordered Calvin around. Miranda and Calvin began to have problems in Season 5. In the beginning of Season 6, a pregnant Miranda disappears; a couple of episodes later, Miranda says there is no baby, making Calvin believe she had an abortion, but she didn't. She is actually thinking about giving the baby up for adoption. Then, while all three couples (C.J and Janine, Curtis and Ella, Calvin and Miranda) go to a marriage retreat, Miranda asks Calvin for a divorce. But when she and Calvin go to a divorce mediator and get stuck in an elevator, they resolve their marriage problems with help from an "elevator lady" Edi who turns out to be Dr. Marcos, the marriage-retreat counselor. Calvin and Miranda had their baby in Season 7. In the series finale "All's Well', Janine, Miranda, CJ, and Calivin celebrate their wedding anniversary, but Miranda and Calvin never show up. Then Calvin shows up at the Payne House to take Miranda to the anniversary dinner, with a dress and a vase of roses. She interrupts him, and demands a divorce, saying that she'd been waiting for the right moment to tell him, but couldn't find one. The very last scene shows Calvin throwing the vase of roses at the wall, and it shatters. The series ends with the camera zoomed in on the broken glass and rose petals. (Seasons 3-8, guest star in Season 1)

• Claretha Jenkins (Denise Burse) is Ella's friend and the Paynes' former next-door neighbor. Curtis constantly jokes about her annoyance at his presence. Claretha is a big gossip; she even rats out the family business to the media in a crime misconception. She is known for having a collection of wigs. She left at the beginning of Season 5 after marrying a "prince." In Season 6, she suddenly leaves the prince; she now goes out with Floyd. She has an exceedingly obese daughter named Huretha and was furious and disgusted when she went out with C.J. in the early seasons after Janine left, although Huretha was never seen on the show. In the Season 7 episode "Payneful Visit", it is revealed that she has leukemia. Since Season 7, she is no longer credited as a regular cast member. She appeared in a recurring role. (Seasons 1–4, 6, briefly in season 5,recurring role in Seasons 7 & 8)

• Floyd Jackson (Palmer Williams, Jr.) is Curtis' friend and the self-absorbed, proud owner of the Barber Shop. He shows little affection towards individual people, but in times of great need will come out and show affection. His first wife disappeared on him, but after he remarried, the first wife returned looking for a divorce. When he did sign the divorce papers, it turned out she'd written a book, and since he's divorced from her he gets nothing. He has a daughter named Olivia who was dating Zack, one of his barbers. In the sixth season, Floyd's second wife kicks him out so he moves into Curtis and Ella's back yard and started dating Claretha, until his second wife returned, having lost fifty pounds because she was depressed that they were splitting up. While Floyd had been hoping to string both along without either finding out about the other, until they bumped into each other in the Payne house and both subsequently broke up with him and Claretha kicked him out. He is the longest running recurring character on House of Payne. In mid Season 8, he joined the main cast. (recurring role, Seasons 3–7, main role in Season 8)