Carl Anthony Payne II may be best known for his success in parlaying his comedic talent into the wild hat wearing, less-than-genius Cole on Fox’s hit series Martin, but his on and off screen accomplishments show that he’s true to his craft in the most serious of ways.

Since his breakout role back more than 20 years ago as Theo Huxtable’s friend Cockroach on The Cosby Show, Payne has appeared in dozens of commercials and sitcoms including George Lopez, UPN’s Girlfriends and The Hughleys.

The New York native is the first to admit he’s had his ups and his downs, but his journey from reciting poems as early as two-years-old to working in New York’s Children Theatre by the age of 10, his philosophy on staying in the game is simple: “Never get too comfortable and keep your eyes low to the ground.”  

We sat down with Carl to find out more about his current projects and his amazing past.

AllHipHop.com: What’s going on? I understand you’re just getting in from Canada where you were shooting a few episodes for Under One Roof. Tell us about your involvement with that show. 

Carl Payne: Well, I play the role of Jay Bone, Flavor Flav’s childhood friend, who he also did time with - in the acting world, of course. 

AllHipHop.com: You and Flavor Flav go way back - both of you are from New York. How did you come about working on the show together?

Carl: Yeah, Flav is from Staten Island and I’m from uptown, but actually, the Producer of the show, Claude Brooks from C To The B Productions, he and I grew up together and he asked me to come on the show as an actor and a punch-up writer [takes existing script and makes it better].

AllHipHop.com: Was writing a natural progression for you after years of working on sitcoms?

Carl: Most definitely. Anybody who has a creative bone in their body knows that’s what they want to be doing. Even when we were doing Martin we were going away from the script on scenes, making it our own. No disrespect to anybody but, sometimes writers don’t know what they’re doing.  Sometimes they’re not as familiar with the culture of the people they’re writing for and it doesn’t work.

You have to know a people or at least be familiar with the star to be able to write in those nuances that make the scene and the story work.

AllHipHop.com: For sure, but with writing comes criticism. There’s been some controversy surrounding the show Under One Roof - some say the show presents racial stereotypes and negative cultural images, with the usual scenarios of an ex-convict, successful African-American entrepreneur who, according to producers, has "lost touch with his blackness." What do you say to that? 

Carl: It’s all entertainment. We realize nobody is safe on our show, believe me, we know that. You look at other shows, like… well I won’t say no names, but let’s be real, brothers do marry white women, and people have family members who have been to prison.

I mean it is what it is. Yeah, as creative minds we have to be responsible for the product we put out there, but at the end of the day, we all have to be able to take it for what it’s worth. 

AllHipHop.com: You have been a part of some groundbreaking shows - The Cosby Show being one of the first shows to paint a positive image of an African-American family, as well as the George Lopez show, highlighting a hardworking Mexican-American family. With the dynamics of these shows being so different from one another, where would you say [Under One Roof] is in terms of the positive contributions it makes?

Carl: Look, the bottom line is this is not going to be the only show I’m going to do. You didn’t hear all this about Married With Children. The dysfunction is was what made the show so popular. It was real. It’s sad, but we’ve gotten our priorities screwed up. People care more about what Britney Spears is doing than about the elections. 

AllHipHop.com: Do you think today’s writers and producers expect the same level of work from talent as they did, say 10, 15, 20 years ago, or do you think the standards have been lowered as a result of reality TV?

Carl: There’s nothing on TV right now that you really want to see. Nothing but reality shows - which I’m not knocking, but it’s like fighting a losing battle because they’re not interested in giving you anything of substance because that’s what sells.

It doesn’t cost much to make one, and you don’t need talented actors, so that ought to tell you something. And another thing, I won’t give it away, but in another couple of years, you’re going to see a major change in the way our entertainment is flowing.

AllHipHop.com: No doubt! I mean just look at the internet and you can see that. 

Carl: That’s what I’m talking about. So as talent or even a writer or producer, you got to stay one step ahead of the game and know where it’s going and put yourself in positions of power and get involved. It’s wonderful that we live in a country where we have that medium to be able to showcase our work and express views other than what you’re seeing in mainstream.

AllHipHop.com: The show Martin made gave a lot of people something to identify with, When I’m at a beauty salon, barbershop, or at a friend’s home and Martin comes on, people still reflect on the highs and the lows of the show and how it affected their lives. How did doing Martin impact your life?

Carl: First let me say nobody is gonna watch a show that doesn’t deal with anything real and sensationalize it. Yeah, we went over board sometimes for the sake of comedy, but we dealt with things that are real. We sparked so many things that are part of pop culture today. If I hear “you go boy” or “you go girl” or “talk to the hand” one more time! People don’t even know where these things originated, and they’re walking around saying it.

People can’t be real when they criticize things like that, but we definitely appreciate the love we received, because we gave a lot of ourselves and I think everybody had their favorite character.

AllHipHop.com: In the year or so leading up to the last episode of Martin, the whole cast was riding a bit of a rollercoaster with all the goings-on with Martin [Lawrence] personally. How did that affect your personal relationship with him and the rest of the cast, and how are you all with each other today? 

Carl: Doing a show like that is like a machine. Once one component breaks down and doesn’t work any more, it can never be the same again. But through other people’s actions, I learned a lot about what to do. It was like acting school for me. 

AllHipHop.com: That’s a hell of a school to be in. I remember visiting you on the set and thinking, “It doesn’t get any better than this!” But I know you paid your dues and you worked hard. 

Carl: Yeah, I’ve definitely worked hard, but that’s what you work hard for. All those things that come with it, the paycheck and your name of the parking space, all that. But I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do when I do my own show and Tichina [Arnold], Tisha [Campbell], Tommy and Martin became like family. That’s who you’re with everyday on a regular [basis], so you all grow in many ways.

AllHipHop.com: You’re known for playing a comedic sidekick in your most noted roles [like Erkel from Family Matters and Arnold from Diff’rent Strokes]. Did you experience typecasting of any kind because of characters you played such as Cole and Cockroach?

Carl: Yeah definitely, I think I’m over it now though. I think enough time has passed, but for some roles like Erkel, and Arnold, I think they had it a lot worse than me because the industry didn’t perceive them as growing up.  That’s why you have to fight and be like, “Yo, I’m more than just that.”

I couldn’t even audition for some of the things Denzel was doing because sometimes he saw me that way, but I had to go in that room and prove him wrong. I mean you may not get the role, but if you handle your business at least they respect you.

AllHipHop.com: You’re from the Polo Grounds in Washington Heights, so you’re familiar with the game in the streets, but Hollywood has a hustle all it’s own. For you to have a family of four boys and a wife, in this business today, how do you manage to keep your head, and for that matter, your house?

Carl: Just apply the street game to what you do in Hollywood and you’ll go far. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking just because you’re making big money now, means you’ll make big money forever. And nobody tells you this, so to everybody reading this, take it from your boy - keep you head and look to the future.

AllHipHop.com: Your recent works include directing, starring in and co-producing Irresponsible Behavior. People showed you and the play a lot of love. Was that a more a labor of love or a paycheck for you?

Carl: That was definitely a love for me, something I was able to do with my boy Les Wilson a long time friend and business partner. He comes from the corporate world, and we always talked about the sexual overtones in relationships between people in the office and we knew everybody had experienced it at some time, so we thought, “Let’s do this.”

AllHipHop.com: Are you still making money from the Martin show?

Carl: Yeah, I make a whole lot of gas money! [laughs]  I still get money from The Cosby Show too, but it ain’t what people think. But it sure feels good to open up that envelope and be reminded of the work you did 15 years ago.

AllHipHop.com: What do you think is the most valuable thing you can impart to anybody interested in breaking into the industry?

Carl: I think the main thing is never get comfortable, take advantage of every opportunity around. Keep your eye low to the ground and protect your neck, because this is definitely a dog-eat-dog business. But definitely it’s an added advantage if you have the street hustle in you.  

AllHipHop.com: We talked once about your interest in managing talent. Is that something you plan on doing in the future?

Carl: For sure! I love what I do and that’s what I look for.

AllHipHop.com: Ok, so what does a person need to have before they can come to you? 

Carl: I’m doing the choosing right now. I might go to the comedy club or even acting classes and I’m looking for people who are hungry, humble and not afraid to get their hands dirty.  Those qualities pretty much mirror the ones I have. 

AllHipHop.com: What else is on the horizon for you?

Carl: Look out for my movie, Feast 2: Sloppy Seconds, directed by John Gulager, the winner of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Project Green Light with HBO. That comes out in August. I star in this horror flick and it’s gonna be a stretch for me. I play a real a**hole in this crazy, scary joint, but you know I got to bring some comedy to it, because that’s just me!