‘Had to look at you every day and see you took on my role’: Malcolm Jamal Warner says he and Carl Anthony Payne II weren’t friends during ‘The Cosby Show’ era because Warner beat Payne out for the role

Everyone thinks they’re a star until they get a recurring role. It’s a reality actor Carl Anthony Payne II knows very well, according to Malcolm Jamal Warner, his former co-star on “The Cosby Show.”

Warner stopped by his morning radio show “The Breakfast Club” on January 12, where he addressed the status of his and Payne’s relationship. The two actors were just teenagers when they landed roles in the unprecedented film about a Black family released in 1984. Warner played the only son, Theodore, of Cliff and Claire Huxtable. The picturesque couple also has four daughters, Rudy, Vanessa, Denise and Sondra. Payne plays Walter “Cockroach” Bradley, Theo’s best friend. However, during their short time on the hit series, Payne and Warner in real life were not at all alike.

Malcolm Jamal Warner says he and Carl Anthony Payne II weren’t friends during ‘The Cosby Show’ era because Warner beat out Payne for the role of Theo.

“As adults, we are cooler than we were at that time,” the “Malcolm and Eddie” star said as he agreed that “young egos” got in the way of the actors building a friendship early on. He went on to recall: “The early callbacks for ‘Cosby,’ they brought in an actor from Chicago and then flew in an actor from New York. Carl is an actor they flew in from New York. So if I hadn’t auditioned for the show, Carl would have played Theo.”

Co-host DJ Envy interjected, “D—n, I have to look at you every day and see you were on my set.” Warner added, “And then I got to come back and play your best friend.” He added that, in retrospect, Payne losing the role may have been the catalyst for their rift in the first place.

“No, that’s part of it,” Warner said before adding that Payne “has a huge ego.” He went on to explain that he doesn’t consider himself a self-absorbed special despite being one of the fan-favorite stars on the show.

“I’m not from that place. The way I felt then and the way I do now, you know, based on my career, if anyone should walk with a big ego, it should be me,” he said. “And if I don’t roll like that, I’ll have very little tolerance for those who roll like that. So we never really, we never really got along at that point.”

The former Cosby boy noted that as adults, the two men were able to resolve any of their teenage differences, although he did not elaborate in the interview on any other issues they must endure. “We are in a place now for grown men that is much cooler than before,” the “Reed Between the Lines” actor said.

Although Payne’s role as Cockroach was only a blip in the series’ eight seasons, he continued to have a steady acting career. His biggest sitcom role to date is as Cole on “Martin.” However, similar to his experience on “The Cosby Show,” he encountered uncomfortable moments with the comedy show’s creator and star, Martin Lawrence.

In a 2015 interview for “This Is 50,” Payne confirmed speculation that his former co-stars chose him and regularly put him down. When asked what caused the tension, the theater-trained actor said he never had any problems with Lawrence. He explains, “I come up with a problem, like if you have a problem with me, I say, ‘What’s going on? You good? I have no problem with you.”

Four years later, he sat down for an interview with Comedy Hype to discuss his time on “Martin” and how he feels about him and Lawrence reconciling 20 years after the show ended. “I think everyone grows. At the end of the day, things that you might have been crazy about about 20 years ago or you feel like whatever, whatever about it, it’s the same thing,” he began before shrugging and asking. topic.

“Imagine you’re in a relationship with someone and it ends badly, that’s when. … It’s one of those places that has all the good things,” Payne continued. “It wasn’t anything other than positive vibes.

For the first time in 2022, the show’s entire cast, sans Tommy Strawn, reunited to celebrate the show’s 30th anniversary. It was clear that by that time, they had all moved past the scandals and fallout that contributed to the show’s demise after five seasons.