So, the college coed found her services in heavy demand. And a successful modeling career led to television roles once the statuesque, 5'8" ingenue also exhibited an engaging screen presence in commercials. Subsequently, she appeared on every TV sitcom, it seems, including Moesha, Saved by the Bell, 7th Heaven, Sister, Sister, The Steve Harvey Show and Friends, to name a few. Gabrielle made even more of a splash on the silver screen, enjoying hit after hit after hit in teensploits like She's All That (1999), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and Bring It On (2000).

African-American audiences, no doubt, recognize her from a bunch of black romantic comedies, after appreciating her inspired performances in Love & Basketball (2000), The Brothers (2001) and Two Can Play That Game (2001). Now Gabrielle has landed her first title role in Deliver Us from Eva, where she plays a doting older sister so annoying that her long-suffering brothers-in-law pay a playboy friend to date her and thereby keep her from meddling in their marriages. In real life, however, Union is married to Chris Howard, former running back with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars and the Oakland Raiders.

Here, the very engaging Gabrielle gabs a bit about Hollywood, her career and her latest role.

KW: What's it like to watch the Superbowl with someone who played in the NFL?

GU: "It's kinda cool watching football with my husband. Since the Raiders were the last team he played for, he wished he'd sort of held on, but unfortunately, his knees were not cooperating. It was wild because Charlie Garner and Charles Woodson [Oakland Raider stars] spend a lot of the off-season in our house. And it was particularly interesting to watch Charles covering Keenan McCardell, who was Chris' teammate in Jacksonville."

KW: How do you think people will respond to such an unlikable character as Eva?

GU: "I'm hoping that people will get that she's just a lonely person, and that she's just desperate for connection, and she just goes overboard with it. But hopefully, they'll all see that she evolves beyond that, and that it wasn't some completely Hollywood, instant transition like: meets boy, gets laid, and now she's healed! No, Eva kinda falls off the path, sometimes, but ultimately, she gains a new perspective and learns the art of compromise, in the way that we all struggle with in relationships."

KW: Any truth to the rumor that your husband stopped you from taking the role in Monster's Ball for which Halle won the Oscar?

GU: "Oooh, no, though my husband has a problem with my just kissing LL Cool J, let alone getting naked with Billy Bob Thornton."

KW: But weren't you offered the part in Monster's Ball?

GU: "During the negotiations, while they were working out her deal, they sent the script to every black actress. I read it and felt it wasn't for me. I couldn't imagine myself in the role. Not for me. It's interesting because I've heard a couple of actress say they were offered the part, but I know the filmmakers, and it was written for Halle. So it was always Halle's, although they might have sent the script to some up-and-comers, but only to pressure her to close the deal."

KW: Are you uncomfortable about doing steamy sex scenes?

GU: "Yes, it's awkward. I'm from Omaha. We respect marriage. It's a holy union, and the idea of going to work and simulating sex acts with somebody else's husband is not normal to me. I feel weird. I feel weird looking at their wives afterwards. It's strange. I can't go to a dinner party and say, 'Hey, Mrs. Cool J, umm, did you see the movie?' I don't enjoy shacking up with other people's husbands, and every co-star I've had has been married with at least two children."

KW: Have you ever had tension on the set due to the presence of a spouse?

GU: "Luckily, I've found that the spouses of my co-stars don't show up. I would be so freaked out, because I want it to be believable, yet, at the same time, respectful. I don't want them to think that I have ulterior motives. I want them to know that I respect them, I respect their marriage, but I have a job to do. And I'm not going to do anything extra that's not in the script."

KW: What do you think is the secret to a successful career in Hollywood?

GU: "I think it just takes making money. If Swordfish hadn't made any money, and if nobody had wanted to see Halle or her boobs, whatever their motivation was to go, then we wouldn't have seen her as Jinx in Die Another Day, or in X-Men 2, or in any of the other things she's doing now where she's the leading lady. The question is: Do people want to see it and will they pay to see it?"

KW: Do you think Deliver Us from Eva will have a limited audience as a black movie?

GU: "Any movie that has more than three people in it is a black movie. Still, look at Barbershop, which was initially marketed just to the urban audience. But after they got the first weekend's numbers, it was obvious that some ethnic groups, in addition to blacks, had enjoyed it. The younger generation is embracing multi-culturalism. It's happening. And whatever product they like, they buy. And if that's movies with more than three black people in it, so be it. I hope that this film will be able to get more mainstream press and people will be able to see that this is not just a black film. None of its humor is race specific. It has jokes everybody can get. It's kind of a broad comedy."

KW: So, black movies are enjoying more and more of a mainstream appeal.