With his closely cropped hair and horn-rimmed glasses, Payne often comes off as a goofy straight man to the antics of Martin Lawrence, star of "Martin", the Fox sitcom on which they both appeared. Payne played a similar recurring character on "The Cosby Show" as Theo's good buddy Cockroach. A veteran of New York's professional children's theater scene, Payne made a relatively smooth transition to young adult roles on the small screen. Payne has appeared in more than 35 commercials and has made guest appearances on several dramatic series.