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Gabrielle Union on MTV UK. Photo by MTV UK.

10 Things To Know About Gabrielle Union

Gabrielle Union is stunning, outspoken, and completely incredible. This stunning actress has been in the entertainment industry since 1995 and consistently starred in many memorable and great roles.

While she began her career as a supporting actress in some of the most iconic ’90s films, such as She’s All That and 10 Things I Hate About You, Gabrielle has recently spread her wings and demonstrated her versatility as an actress.

Gabrielle Union is much more than her on-screen persona. She has been through many battles and struggles in her life and has triumphed over all of them.

She is a strong African American actress who is not afraid to speak her mind. This wonderful wife, mother, and friend has a lot to offer.

1. Gabrielle’s first acting role was saved by the bell

Gabrielle Union. Photo by LGEPR.

She’s undoubtedly the ’90s’ supporting actress queen. In 1995, she made her acting debut with a small role in Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

She got her first job without having any headshots, which is unusual these days. Gabrielle appeared as two different characters in two different Saved by the Bell episodes.

Union played the Klingon N’Garen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s sixth season episode “Sons and Daughters” in 1997. She also played Ashli in Moesha, Vanessa in Sister, Sister, Denise in Smart Guy, and Keesha Hamilton in five episodes of 7th Heaven. She also appeared as Kristen, a love interest to both Ross and Joey, in an episode of Friends called “The One with the Cheap Wedding Dress.” She’s All That, and 10 Things I Hate About You were two of her previous roles.

2. Union was raised catholic

She comes from a strong Catholic family and was taught as a child to be an independent woman who stood on her own two feet. After the family moved to Pleasanton, California, where Union attended Foothill High School, Union’s mother taught her to have a “world perspective” and took her to a gay pride parade when she was eight years old.

3. She graduated from ULCA with honours 

Gabrielle Union finished her college education before dabbling in acting. In 1996, Gabrielle graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree and honours in sociology. Growing up, was always told she was funny or smart. In an interview, she admitted that she never wanted to be smart; she just wanted to be pretty. Fortunately, she let her intelligence excel.

4. Union interned at L. A modelling agency

Gabrielle Union. Photo by LGEPR.

Gabrielle Union began interning at a modelling agency in Los Angeles during her college years. Gabrielle, according to BoomsBeat, thought it would be a simple way to earn some extra credits.

She, on the other hand, was asked to become a client of the modelling agency after completing her internship. As a result, her modelling career officially began.

5. Gabrielle wanted to be a lawyer

Gabrielle Union at the premiere of The Public. Photo by GabboT.

Gabrielle began acting to help pay off her massive university debt and student loans. She was hooked after discovering how much she enjoyed it.

She is a strong advocate for the underprivileged, so it’s no surprise that her first career choice was to be a lawyer, and would have realized that dream if she hadn’t moved to Hollywood after graduating from the prestigious UCLA.

6. She was sexually assaulted at 19

Gabrielle Union on MTV UK. Photo by MTV UK.

Union was attacked and raped at gunpoint at her part-time job at a Payless shoe store by a robber during the summer before starting her sophomore year of college at UCLA. Union has stated that she would not have survived the attack if she had not learned lessons from watching Oprah Winfrey‘s talk show. She later won a negligence lawsuit against Payless, alleging that the store failed to warn employees about the assailant, who had been positively identified robbing another Payless location prior to her rape.

Union is an advocate for assault survivors and has spoken out in support of Jada, a Texas teenager who was sexually assaulted while passed out at a party. Others on social networking sites mocked the assault, which was filmed and posted online.

Union has also discussed the importance of therapy and how she was able to find it quickly with the help of family members and coworkers.

7. Gabrielle Union’s daughter was born via surrogate

Gabrielle has been candid about her difficulties in carrying her own pregnancy. She revealed in her 2017 memoir that she has had “eight or nine” miscarriages throughout her life.

According to Parade, Gabrielle made the difficult decision to use a gestational surrogate for the birth of her daughter after being diagnosed with adenomyosis. Kaavia, her daughter, is now four years old.

8. Gabrielle is fluent in Spanish

Even while repeatedly demonstrating that she is as smart as she is beautiful and talented, Gabrielle can speak Spanish fluently in addition to English. Her fans are aware that she speaks Spanish, as she demonstrated during Being Mary Jane. This skill would come in handy when she was out to snag leading roles.

9. She has been married twice

In 1999, Union met NFL player Chris Howard at a party. They tied the knot on May 5, 2001, and divorced in October 2005. In 2006, the divorce was finalized. Union explained that after her divorce, she “sort of realized that she hadn’t been making sound choices that were the best for her to pursue her hopes, dreams, aspirations, and passions.”

In a 2014 interview, she admitted that she may have rushed into the relationship for the wrong reasons, noting that in her twenties, she was all about getting the ring. Union had previously stated that she had spent much of her marriage upset, and that the relationship had taught her that the men in her life were “just human.”

Union began dating NBA player Dwyane Wade in 2008. On August 30, 2014, they married in Miami, Florida, and she became the stepmother to his three children. Union stated in an interview prior to the wedding that she and Wade would sign a prenuptial agreement to protect their separate assets. Union and Wade honeymooned in the Maldives and Tanzania. 

10. Her first book in 2017 was a major success

Union released her first book, a memoir titled We’re Going to Need More Wine, in April 2017. The book includes personal stories and reflections on a variety of contemporary issues, including sexuality, womanhood, friendship, race, marriage, and beauty.

The book was described by Union as “the good, the bad, and the WTF.” Dey Street Books, a HarperCollins imprint, published the book on October 17, 2017. The Root magazine named it a “Best Book of the Year by a Black Author” in December 2017.

Union released her first children’s book, Welcome to the Party, in May 2020, an ode to newborns and non-traditional families inspired by her daughter. Shady Baby, her second children’s book, was co-written with her husband Dwyane Wade and was released on May 18, 2021.