Meet Gabrielle Union: actress, model and, yes, former UCLA Store
Book Buyback supervisor.
“I topped the scales at $6.16 an hour, and that was after
three raises,” Union said. “So yeah, I was doing big
things.”
Union has since traded in her textbooks for Tinseltown as one of
the hottest actresses working today. Her fiery role in
“Cradle 2 The Grave,” in theaters Friday, will join her
critically acclaimed performance in “Deliver Us From
Eva.” But not too long ago, she was desperately searching for
parking like any other UCLA student
Union transferred to UCLA in 1993. She studied sociology, which
she describes as a common sense major, and cites Robert Hill,
African American studies associate professor, and Jeffrey Prager, a
sociology professor, as memorable teachers.
In her last quarter of study, Union opted for a spring
internship with a modeling agency that would change her life. After
getting by in the office doing grunt work, Union was offered a
modeling contract, an offer she could not refuse.
“I’m looking at the student loans that are about to
be due, so I said, “˜If you think someone will pay me,
sure!'” said Union. “And literally two days
later, I started working.”
After modeling for various teen magazines, Union paid her acting
dues on various television shows, culminating in her appearance as
the first black love interest on “Friends.” She
transitioned to film via teen flicks such as “She’s All
That,” “10 Things I Hate About You” and her
star-making turn as the Clovers’ cheerleading captain, Isis,
in “Bring It On.”
In these movies, Union was not only older than her fellow
actors, but she was usually one of the few minorities represented.
It didn’t bother her, however.
“I grew up in Pleasanton, California, and if you’re
familiar with Pleasanton, you’ll know it’s kind of the
status quo for me,” she said. “I’m kind of used
to being “˜the one.’ But this new younger generation is
so much more empathetic to the status of minorities that I
didn’t feel like the odd man out.”
She has since starred in a number of films featuring mostly
black casts like “Love and Basketball,” “The
Brothers” and “Two Can Play That Game.”
“Black Hollywood is the most amazing fraternity and
sorority you can imagine,” she said. “Not only are you
one of many in front of the camera, there are plenty of people of
color behind the camera as well. It’s like coming home, I
guess.”
“Deliver Us From Eva” is the first film where she
receives top billing as the shrewish, statistic-spewing mother hen
who micromanages the lives of her three sisters and the men who
love them. The sisterly bond is familiar to Union as she was the
middle child of three sisters in her own family.
“My older sister is an Eva to me, and we are in turn
Eva-like to our younger sister,” she said. “So
there’s definitely a chunk of me in Eva, unfortunately for my
husband.”
While carrying a film like “Eva” was a new
experience, “Cradle 2 The Grave” was even more
unfamiliar territory for Union. Not only did she train with Jet
Li’s fight team, but she also had to make sense of the
fighting for her character Daria.
“Initially, she’s a stripper, possibly a prostitute,
turned jewel thief, turned savior of the world from
terrorism,” Union said. “My thing was, at what point in
her life did she learn tae kwon do? Where was she, on the corner or
dancing on a pole, when she was like, “˜Oh, hold on ““
gotta go learn how to do that!’ That was challenging, to make
sense of it all and tailor-make a fighting style for my
character.”
Union recently wrapped up production on another romantic comedy,
“Breakup Handbook,” and is now relaxing and enjoying
married life with her husband, Chris Howard. But even with her
burgeoning film career, she still holds the lessons learned at UCLA
close to her.
“The one thing I learned at UCLA is to not believe
everything you hear, read or grew up with,” she said.
“Challenge what you know; challenge what you think you know.
Don’t settle for the okie-doke.”