What You Don't Know About Gabrielle Union

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The following references sexual assault.

Gabrielle Union has been lighting up the silver screen ever since she made her debut in 1999's "She's All That." From there, Union would score parts in features like "Deliver Us from Eva, "Love & Basketball," "Bring It On," "Bad Boys II," and "Think Like a Man," and land television roles in "Being Mary Jane" and "L.A.'s Finest." A bona fide Hollywood star who happens to be married to a pretty famous former NBA player, she's captured our hearts by sharing some of the most intimate moments in her life that some celebrities would rather keep to themselves. 

While some celebs tend to shy away from divulging personal issues and only post about their "picture-perfect" lifestyles on social media, Union has shared many of her struggles in interviews and in her two memoirs,  2017's "We're Going to Need More Wine" and "You Got Anything Stronger?" from 2021. In an interview with Health, Union shared her decision to get even more personal in her second book, which includes her journey with infertility. "I find that the more painfully honest I am, the more impactful I am. You just have to talk about it. And finally, I'm ready. I'm as ready as I'm going to be," she said.

Union is so much more than an actor. She's a mother, wife, and activist, and has worked behind the lens, too. Check out what else there is to know about Union that makes her so much more than the roles she's played on the big screen. 

This may come as a shock to fans, but when Gabrielle Union was growing up, she did not dream of getting into the world of acting in movies and TV shows. As she revealed on "The Old Man and the Three" podcast, she believed being a music video star was her calling. She gave that path a shot and even scored an audition for Tupac Shakur's "California Love" video, but it did not pan out the way she hoped at the time. So, she pivoted. "I was like, 'Let me try my hand at acting.' I have a photographic memory, and you know, memorizing 'Saved By the Bell' scripts, not that hard," she shared. And what do you know, Union nabbed that part in "Saved By the Bell: The New Class," and that first acting gig set the wheels in motion. "I was, like, 'Mistletoe Girl Number One,' making the lowest you could possibly pay somebody," she remembered in Elle. 

While she did not get the "California Love" role, Union did end up in other major artists' music videos after her own career took off, including Busta Rhymes' "I Love My Chick" and "LL Cool J's "Paradise." "Once I became an actor that people could recognize, then I became this in demand video vixen," she told "The Old Man and the Three." Isn't that the way it goes.

In 2000, Gabrielle Union's career trajectory really stuck the landing with a little feature film called "Bring It On." In the hit cheer comedy, the actor played Isis, the head cheerleader of the East Compton Clovers, a team from a predominantly Black high school that rivaled the Rancho Carne Toros, a predominately white cheer squad led by Torrance, who is played by actor Kirsten Dunst. Looking back on this movie, Union has regrets regarding how she portrayed Isis.

She told "Good Morning America," "I was given full rein to do whatever I wanted with Isis in 'Bring It On,' and I chose respectability and to be classy and take the high road because I felt like that would make her be appropriate, the right kind of Black girl. Black girls aren't allowed to be angry — certainly not demonstratively angry — and I muzzled her." Union pointed out that even after she made all of these deliberate character choices, some audience members still see Isis as a villain. 

While fans might have found Isis as strong-willed and determined, Union thought otherwise, even penning a letter to the character in her memoir "You Got Anything Stronger?" She wrote (via The Cut), "I am here to apologize to you. When I said today that you didn't go far enough, that was on me. I failed you and myself ... I wish I had given you the space to be a Black girl who is exceptional without making any kind of compromise."

Gabrielle Union's divorce from first husband Chris Howard left her with a little less money in her pocket. As per Us Weekly, the former couple did not have a prenuptial agreement in place. In 2007, just a year after her divorce, Union began to date NBA player Dwyane Wade. Union not only took the necessary steps to protect herself and her assets, but her parents were also wary of her decision to date another athlete.

Appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in 2021, Union shared that her family believed Wade might also take her earnings. She told Kimmel, "There was some precedent there, otherwise known as my first marriage. Left me a little lighter." Although both men made money as professional athletes, Union's own career was bringing in the bucks by then, too. Regarding her marriage to Howard, she said, "When it was over, I had to write the check."

Before she and Wade wed in February 2014, she asked him for a prenup. As she explained on "The Arsenio Hall Show," "When you have your own stuff, you don't need to worry about anyone else's stuff ... And the reality is I've never seen Dwyane balance a checkbook, so I gotta protect my stuff."

In her first memoir "We're Going to Need More Wine," Gabrielle Union shared several personal stories of her life including the day she was held at gunpoint and sexually assaulted at the age of 19. Talking about the assault became a form of therapy for the actor. "Acknowledging you're in pain is the first step, and then seeking help," she wrote (via Page Six).

What some fans may not know about the actor is that the rape left her suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. In a June 2022 Instagram post, she opened up about the long-lasting impacts the attack and the PTSD have had on her mental health. She wrote, "There's times the anxiety is so bad it shrinks my life. Leaving the house or making a left hand turn at an uncontrolled light can fill me with terror. Anxiety can turn my anticipation about a party or fun event I've been excited about attending (Met Ball) into pure agony."

Union told People that she opened up about her story because she wanted other women to see that healing is possible, though not necessarily easy. "They need to know healing is a process — a slow process like moving a boulder uphill with one hand tied behind your back but there's hope," she said. 

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Gabrielle Union has been extremely open about her infertility struggles after tying the knot with Dwyane Wade. She shared in her first memoir, "We're Going to Need More Wine" (via Brides), "For three years, my body has been a prisoner of trying to get pregnant — I've either been about to go into an IVF cycle, in the middle of an IVF cycle, or coming out of an IVF cycle."

Union learned that she had adenomyosis which caused her to have multiple miscarriages. After going through many rounds of unsuccessful IVF treatments and learning that if she tried to carry a baby, she was at risk of breaking her bones, she had a serious conversation with her husband about going the surrogate route, which was a struggle for her to accept at the time. She wrote in her second memoir, "You Got Anything Stronger?" (via Time), "I wanted the experience of being pregnant. To watch my body expand and shift to accommodate this miracle inside me."

It was an emotional journey for the star, who said in "You Got Anything Stronger?" that she thought she was letting her husband down. However, she ultimately concluded that surrogacy was the right choice for their family. She wrote, "If there was another way for me to bring my baby into the world, and have my health, why was it so hard for me to make peace with that?" Union and Wade welcomed a daughter named Kaavia James in November 2018.

One could argue David and Victoria Beckham, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, and Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are all celebrity couple relationship goals. One could also argue Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade definitely fit on that list too — but maybe hold off before you add them to the roster. Why? Well, because Union doesn't want people to put them on some pedestal as an objectively perfect couple. 

She told Ebony, "Stop listening to people who have failed miserably at relationships as they offer relationship advice: that's the first thing. Second, my 'perfect' relationship isn't the next person's. Stop comparing your life, your love and your marriage." The long and short of it, the relationship should be something that works for the people in the relationship, not something that "works" for social media. Union continued, "Whatever that is or however that looks on you, there should be peace, grace, and joy with anything you do, whether that's a relationship, business, friendship or hobbies. Make sure it brings you peace."

So while she wants her fans to know that a true relationship is more than a hashtag, people still want to know the couple's secret to their success. In a joint interview, Union told People that she and Wade both learned from their first marriages and hope to apply both the good and the bad lessons to this marriage. "We humble ourselves, listen and we meet in the middle," she said. 

Gabrielle Union added executive producer to her resume when she produced her first film in 2015. The flick, which is called "With This Ring" is a Lifetime movie that also stars Regina Hall, Eve, and Jill Scott. The next year, she was the executive producer for the comedy "Almost Christmas," and would be named executive producer for several episodes of her shows "Being Mary Jane" and "L.A.'s Finest."

Her work as a producer for the 2018 thriller "Breaking In" was honored at the 2018 CinemaCon Big Screen Achievement Awards with the award for "Breakthrough Prouder of the Year," per Daily Mail. Her most recent work as an executive producer is 2022's "Cheaper By the Dozen," a reimagined take of the classic 2003 film which starred Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, and Hilary Duff. This time, Union stars in the film with her blended family of 12 with actor Zach Braff starring as her husband. Union shared with the "The View" panel, "It's blended in every way you can imagine. We are racially blended, culturally blended, we have each been married to other people and had children with them. So we are showing you what co-parenting can look like in all of its challenges."

Union will also be executive producing a few more films including, "The Perfect Find," "Relentless," and "The Idea of You."