The State of Union-overcoming personal tragedy and industry politics,
Gabrielle Union wants to show Hollywood that there is a dark side

"Don't give it up!" exclaims actress Gabrielle Union about her technique for
snagging her husband, Oakland Raider Chris Howard.  The 28-year old
newlywed, who has starred in numerous television and film projects, had to
learn that lesson the hard way.  After years of "barking up the wrong tree"
when it came to men, Union came across The Rules, a handbook of dating dos
and don'ts for women.  The bestseller advises women to play hard to get and
to not go jogging without lipstick, among other things.

Union met her beau in a Florida bowling alley during a weekend retreat.  The
first night, they traded barbs across the lanes and by day two, they were
inseparable.  "I didn't set out to get an athlete," confesses Union with a
laugh.  "Athletes are used to getting it thrown at them all day, every day
by women.  You've got to come with something different.  I just stuck by The
Rules and six months later, we were engaged."

Playing by the rules of love is a theme not only in Union's personal life
but also in the script of her latest project, Two Can Play That Game.  In
the romantic comedy, Union plays Connie, a woman trying to come between her
archrival, Shante(played by Vivica A. Fox), and her man(Morris Chestnut).
Shante, however, uses a 10-day survival guide to keep her man happy and
committed.

But unlike her most recent onscreen character, Union herself is quite
content with her life.  Besides being head over heels in love, Hollywood's
next "it" girl seems to be on the fast track to superstardom.  A path Union
never expected to travel.

While working on her bachelor's degree in sociology at UCLA, Union took on
an internship at a modeling agency, thinking it would be an easy way to
"earn some extra credits."  As the internship neared completion, one of the
agents asked if she'd be interested in modeling.  Union considered the stack
of student loans she'd soon be facing and said to herself, "Why not."  Two
days later, she was hired by Teen magazine, which led to extensive catalog
work and her first TV audition.  "The agent was kind of like, 'Hmm, she can
read.  Let's send her on an audition," Union recalls. "I didn't even have
head shots."

Eventually the acting novice booked Saved by the Bell and from there went on
to make appearances on several television series including Moesha, City of
Angels, The Steve Harvey Show and Sister, Sister.  Union's first  hit the
big screen in teen movies(10 Things I Hate About You, She's All That, Bring
It On) but didn't make any major noise until last year.  Her big splash came
when she was cast as the first African American love interest to Matt
LeBlanc and David Schwimmer on NBC's Friends.  Hollywood didn't really start
paying attention to Union, however, til her performance in the box-office
smash The Brothers.  Now the rising star can't keep out of the spotlight.
Besides Two Can Play That Game, she's got the George Clooney-and Steven
Soderbergh-produced Welcome to Colinwood as well as Abandon, starring
Benjamin Bratt, awaiting release. Quite an impressive resume for someone
with such ordinary beginnings.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Union's family moved to Pleasington, California,
when she was 8.  Although she spent all her summers back home with family
and friends, Union's school years in Pleasington were a  more homogenized
experience.  "I always had the facts about my culture.  I was always book
smart and my mom took us to see Black plays and poetry and book readings,"
she reflects.  "As for having Black friends,  I didn't really have any
because there weren't any in the community."

Nonetheless, the ethnic isolation(only 1 and a half percent of Pleasington's
population is African American according to the 2000 census) didn't affect
Union's studies or social life.  After hanging out with the popular crowd in
high school, she started her post-secondary studies at University of
Nebraska and later transferred to Cuesta College.  She returned home after
one semester, though, disillusioned with the college experience.

While planning her next move, Union took a job at a local Payless Shoes, a
simple decision that would turn 1992 into a year that would be horribly
etched into her memory.  It was closing time at the store and she and a
co-worker were getting ready to leave.  Suddenly, a man brandishing a gun
burst in, robbed the cash register, and held Union at gunpoint forcing her
into the back room where she was raped and brutally beaten.  Her coworker,
who was still in the store at the time, never called for help, something
that, to this day, Union can't explain.  Police later discovered that her
assailant worked at another Payless store and had raped another employee a
few weeks prior.  Because it hadn't warned it's employees about the other
crime, Union sued the company for gross negligence and won  an undisclosed
amount of money.  "You can't touch upon the true horror of rape," she
whispers, "without completely freaking people out."

Until recently, Union kept this tragedy between herself and close family and
friends because she didn't want people to look at her as a victim.  Through
years of counseling and support from her support circle, though, she's come
to understand that her experience can empower other women in similar
situations.  "As someone who has survived rape, I feel I have a
responsibility to show women they can get over it.  A lot of times
publications only want to show entertainers in their best light.  But
sometimes there's a lot of fucked-up shit that happens along the way," Union
says adamantly.  "I don't want to say that it helped me, because if I could
trade being assaulted and raped, I would.  But it definitely affected the
person I am now and the steps I took in life to become a functioning member
of society."

Far beyond just "functioning" Union has excelled in a notoriously difficult
business, playing roles she both enjoys and respects.  "I had so much fun
working on Two Can Play That Game and The Brothers.  The casts on both
projects were such good people; no one was an asshole," she says.  They were
really FUBU experiences-For Us By, Us.  Everyone was on time, doing their
jobs and happy about it."

But Union can recall a time when she primarily read for the "snobby" or
"bougie bitch" roles.  During those roles she'd often find herself in a room
full of light-skinned actresses.  While being sure not to negate the beauty
of those women, Union firmly stresses the point that Hollywood needs to
recognize all shades of African American beauty.  The actress believes that
doing otherwise can perpetuate stereotypes, especially among younger
viewers.  In The Brothers and Two Can Play That Game we show all shades of
Black beauty, so that helps.  You can quantify Black beauty in different
hues and people will pay to see us," she professes.  "And it's not just
Halle Berry and Vanessa Williams.  People will pay to see Alfre Woodard and
Nia Long, too.  Luckily, I and a few others like Tamala Jones have been
given a chance to show there is another way."

Transcribed by: Shannalou_99   Thank You.