HBCUs have produced some of the most influential and talented people in the world. Some of the most famous doctors, lawyers, entertainers, athletes, and politicians have all graduated from HBCUs. The prestigious institutions are breeding grounds for greatness and have many stories to share. In our new series HBCU Success Story, we will share the stories of successful HBCU alumni and how their HBCU helped get them to where they are today. In our first HBCU Success Stories, we are going to highlight the story of the immensely talented and handsome, Lance Gross.

Lance Gross's HBCU Journey

We all know Lance Gross from his breakout role as Calvin Payne on Tyler Perry’s hit show House of Payne. But Gross’s journey of becoming one of Hollywood’s favorite men on screen began during his time at Howard University. In an interview with HBCU 101’s Jahliel Thurman, Gross shared that it was his older twin sisters that inspired him to attend Howard.

“They wanted to go to Howard, that’s how I learned about Howard initially”, Gross said.

He also attributed shows like A Different World to influencing him to attend an HBCU. In his mind, “Howard was Hillman.” During the interview, the Oakland, California native expressed wanting to leave his hometown for college. So, choosing the Mecca allowed him to do just that.

Gross earned a full ride to Howard on a track and field scholarship. While attending he majored in film production and minored in theater. Here is where he took his first acting class and fell in love with the art of acting. Gross continuously credits his professor, Professor Bay, with breaking him out of his shell and helping him realize his full potential as an actor. But his time in front of the camera did not start with acting.

Hollywood Aspirations

Gross worked as a model from high school through college. His experience modeling earned him an internship as a fit model at Sean John, a fashion company owned by fellow Howard attendee P-Diddy. Gross says that the connections he made during his internship helped him when moved to Los Angeles after graduating from Howard in 2004.

When Gross moved to LA spent time working as a bartender for a catering company that handled industry events such as the Oscars. After working as a bartender, he got himself a commercial agent and started starring in commercials and music videos. Once he started seeing the success of his commercials, he quit his job and dedicated all his time to acting classes. One of those acting classes would be the one that changed his life.

Gross trained at the Ivanna Chubbuck Studio and this particular class was taught by actress Tasha Smith who is also known for her roles in some of Tyler Perry’s productions. Smith invited Perry to sit in on the class and Gross put on a performance that blew him away and that was the start of his journey as Calvin on his hit TBS show House of Payne.

It's Up & It's Stuck

His role as Calvin was the first major role of his career. Gross says that House of Payne was the perfect experience for him as a new actor. Gross went on to play Calvin for 10 seasons including the recent House of Payne reboot as well as in its spin-off The Paynes. His role as Calvin has earned him four NAACP Image Awards but his success doesn’t end there.

Following his success on House of Payne, Gross landed feature roles in films such as Our Family Wedding and Meet The Browns. He continued landing feature roles, eventually securing leading roles in TV series and films such as NBC's Crisis; Fox's Star, Sleepy Hollow and Our Kind of People, and BET's The Bobby Brown Story and two episodes of the anthology TV series Tales. Not bad for a Howard Bison.

Gross's story should be inspirational to all HBCU alumni, especially those who aspire to make it in Hollywood. There's not one road to success. You have to be patient, work hard, and make the most of your opportunities. Then, your greater success will come.