| Natalie Finn 27. Januar 2015 – 20:30
Gabrielle Union practices what she preaches: fierceness.
The Being Mary Jane star and Neutrogena ambassador can sound off knowledgeably on darn near any topic, from sports and personal style to politics and race relations, at the drop of a hat. But as she so astutely pointed out in a recent interview with Yahoo Style, that’s just how a modern woman needs to be these days.
“In this day, there’s a news story about celebrities every second. People are demanding a lot more,” Union explained. “The fact that I can do a press junket for a movie and people ask me what’s happening in my uterus says a lot. They want 110 percent of what you have to offer. But now that I’ve been given a voice, I’m going to use it.”
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And one subject she also can’t help but be an expert on: the cult-classic film that is Bring It On.
Asked whom she would get to fill her character’s East Compton Clover cheer uniform if the fan-favorite cheerleading comedy were being recast today, Union bestowed the honor of playing Isis (well, they’d probably have to change her name for 2015) to Keke Palmer.
She would also cast Dakota Fanning in the Kirsten Dunst role of Torrance and Selena Gomez would get to be Missy, Eliza Dushku‘s “bad-girl role.” You know those gymnast-turned-reluctant-cheerleader types!
But while Union knows that her own Bring It On days are behind her, even though she looks practically the same as she did in the 2000 film, she’s got another dream role in mind these days.
“Let there be two black Stormtroopers,” she laughed, referencing the hubbub over John Boyega‘s character in the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “I used to have this list that I wish I could be this or that. But at my age, as a 42-year-old black actress, I am so happy and grateful for the next job. My dream job is the next job, and that’s sort of how I approach it.”
Union, who says that she reads three newspapers a day and watches a lot of CNN to stay informed, has also made it a point to remain empowered in real life and set a positive example for other women—and that includes making it clear that she and her NBA star husband Dwyane Wade are playing on a level court.
Movie remakes—should Bring It On join the list?!
“For women in Hollywood, when they’re coupling, everything is about the brand,” Union, who married Wade in August and spoke out beforehand about how she insisted on having a prenuptial agreement, also told Yahoo Style. “Everything is about latching on to a rising star, so you can kick your heels up. That’s never been my story, ever.
“I make sure to let people know all of the hard work that’s gone into my career. I want people to know the work that it took to get through UCLA, that I had student loans and worked. I was eating Top Ramen and lived well below my means. Now that it’s time to get married to a man who happens to play basketball and has done well for himself, I want to make it clear that I have in no way hitched my wagon to his star. I have my own wagon and star.”
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