The Audiobook You Never Knew Gabrielle Union Narrated
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By her late 20s, Gabrielle Union was famous for playing high schoolers. The actress was 27 when she starred as a high school sophomore in the 1999 hit "10 Things I Hate About You." That same year, she featured in "She's All That" and, shortly after, "Clueless." In 2000, she had roles in "Love & Basketball" and "Bring it On" (via IMDb).
According to Union, she stepped in to help with much-needed edits to the original "Bring it On" dialogue. In a 2020 Vogue interview, Union explained, "The script was a little cringe-y, so when they offered me the job, I said, 'Can we make some changes?' And they were open." Allegedly, the "Bring it On" director Peyton Reed would often ask Union to weigh in on her character, Isis. She remembers, "We kind of rewrote it as we went along, but the credited screenwriters were not a part of that dialogue." Ultimately, Union played a major role in reworking some of the more problematic aspects of the film, largely contributing to its popularity.
After her praise-worthy performance as Isis, Union became an A-lister, going on to star in films like "Cadillac Records," "Think Like a Man," and beginning in 2013, the hit TV series "Being Mary Jane" (via IMDb). She was even in the running to star in one of the most iconic TV dramas of the last decade. In 2021, Union lent her acting talents to the world of audiobook narration.
Gabrielle Union narrates the complexity of motherhood in Dispossession
In 2021, Gabrielle Union collaborated with Audible to perform "Dispossession," written by Tayari Jones. In a 2021 Twitter post, Union commented, "I'm honored to be able to lend my voice to an author who so eloquently represents Black lives in her stories." The story follows Cheryl, a mother who sends her son, Javonte, from Atalanta off to an elite boarding school in Vermont. Now, Cheryl must contend with what feels like the loss of her son, or at least the version of him she raised, as summarised by Barnes & Noble.
Tayari Jones is a New York Times best-selling author. In 2018, her fourth novel, "An American Marriage," won the Women's Prize for Fiction as well as an NAACP Image Award (via Tayari Jones). Since its 2021 release, "Dispossession" has been widely-praised by listeners, with over 2,000 reviewers rating the novella five out of five stars on Audible. Jones is also a professor of creative writing at Emory University and Cornell University, guiding students on their own paths towards becoming authors. As she explained to The San Diego Union-Tribune in a 2021 interview, writing a novel is "the opposite of a love affair" in that "the beginning is the hardest part." According to Jones, "I often tell people, if you can survive the beginning, you will survive the novel." You can download "Dispossession" for free with an Audible subscription or order your own copy on Amazon.
Gabrielle Union is the author of two memoirs
In 2017, Gabrielle Union published her first book, "We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories that are Funny, Complicated, and True." The memoir delves into Union's childhood spent living in a predominately white San Francisco suburb and summers spent with her Grandmother in North Omaha, Nebraska, a majority black neighborhood. She discusses her complicated fertility journey, her past relationships, and her perspective on the #MeToo movement, something she wrote about far before it was ever given a name (via The New York Times). According to a 2017 New York Times profile on the actress, the book stemmed from "years of therapy." After publishing "We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories that are Funny, Complicated, and True," the actress released a follow-up memoir, "You Got Anything Stronger?" in 2022. Both books are available on Audible, narrated by Union herself.
The actress was voted one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020, lauded for her "dedication to inclusivity," and "directing her attention, influence and resources to advance an agenda that deliberately celebrates the most marginalized among us, including Black women and girls and queer and trans folks." She's been celebrated for speaking out against the toxic environment on the set of "America's Got Talent," which she was fired from in 2019 (via Variety). Since 2014, Union has been married to former NBA star, Dwyane Wade. The pair have been open about their surrogacy journey and celebrated the birth of their daughter in 2018.