‘Martin’ Turns 30: Where’s the Cast Now?
Damn, Gina! Has it really been 30 years since Martin premiered on Fox? Yes, August 27 marks the 30th anniversary of the hit sitcom, one of our picks for the 90 Best Shows of the ‘90s.
Of course, BET+ subscribers already know about that milestone, since the Martin cast got together for a 90-minute reunion special that started streaming on the platform this June.
Tisha Campbell, who played the girlfriend-turned-wife of comedian Martin Lawrence’s deejay character, told TV Insider this June that it was “magical” to film that reunion. “It felt like somebody was going to hand us a script and we were going to start working,” she added. “We had so much fun.”
To keep the fun going, here are updates on the Martin stars, three decades later…
Martin Lawrence (Martin Payne)
Following Martin, Lawrence continued starring in the big-screen Bad Boys franchise, co-headlining 2003’s Bad Boys II and 2020’s Bad Boys for Life with Will Smith. He also led the cast of three Big Momma’s House movies and starred in the 2014 FX sitcom Partners opposite Kelsey Grammer. Coming up, he’ll recur on the AMC sci-fi comedy Damascus.
Tisha Campbell (Gina Waters-Payne)
Campbell starred as mom Janet “Jay” Kyle in the ABC sitcom My Wife and Kids, Michelle Dulcett in the Lifetime police procedural The Protector, and Damona Watkins in the ABC sitcom Dr. Ken, among other TV roles. These days, she’s voicing Tawny Young in the HBO Max series Harley Quinn and starring as Suzanne in the Netflix comedy Uncoupled.
Carl Anthony Payne II (Cole Brown)
Payne’s recent TV roles include Todd in the Bounce comedy Last Call, Councilman Davis in the ALLBLK drama 5th Ward, and Myles Wilson in the Nickelodeon comedy Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan. Behind the camera, he was an associate producer of Last Call and he directed the upcoming film Strange Love.
Thomas Mikal Ford (Tommy Strawn)
After Martin, Ford starred as NYPD lieutenant Malcolm Barker on the Fox police procedural New York Undercover and made guest-starring appearances on Judging Amy and House. He also founded the youth-empowerment program Be Still and Know. Ford died in 2016 of a ruptured abdominal aneurysm at age 52.
Tichina Arnold (Pamela Jones)
Over the past 25 years, Arnold has starred as Rochelle in the UPN-turned-CW sitcom Everybody Hates Chris, Judi Mann in the TV Land comedy Happily Divorced, and Cassie Calloway in the Starz dramedy Survivor’s Remorse. Now she’s starring as Tina Butler, wife of Cedric the Entertainer’s character, in the CBS sitcom The Neighborhood.
Garrett Morris (Stan Winters)
Morris, one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live, is still active in Hollywood at age 85. He recently guest-starred in an episode of the ABC firefighter drama Station 19 and lent his voice to the Prime Video series Fairfax and the NBC sitcom Grand Crew.
Jon Gries (Shawn McDermott)
After Martin, Gries starred as tech expert Broots in the NBC action-drama The Pretender and recurred on the TV shows Lost, Supernatural, and The White Lotus. He also led the cast of the Dream Corp LLC, voicing Dr. Roberts in the Adult Swim animated comedy. On the big screen, Gries played Uncle Rico in the 2004 comedy Napoleon Dynamite and Casey in the Taken franchise.
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