I just thought acting would be something to help out with my student loans, but my first year as an actress, I made more money than my parents. That's when I realized it could turn into a career. After that, I put everything I had into it.
— Gabrielle Union
In Hollywood, marriages are kind of expected to fail.
Before I got married, I dated the gamut.
I've been trying to get cast as a lesbian for years.
I played sports year around: basketball, soccer, softball and I ran track year around, from the time I was, like, six, seven.
I'm not the type to lay out on the beach, but I do love to work out outside, and that can really take a toll on your skin!
My mom is painfully sweet; she's from Nebraska.
In Hollywood, you play a mom and instantly, you've got osteoporosis.
People think that celebs make a lot more money than we do. We look for bargains and we do a lot of stuff on our own.
We all have to let go of the Prince Charming complex and realize he doesn't necessarily exist in the package we assume he'll come in.
I don't function well in chaos, whether it be my sheets or the dishwasher.
I like meat and carbohydrates.
I'm the kind of person whose clothes are all hung up and color-coordinated, to the point where my whites don't touch my creams.
A couple of my friends started having babies, and I thought, 'Maybe one day, with the right guy.' I have to find the guy first.
In my career, there have been roles I haven't taken because someone involved with the project gave me a bad vibe. I don't care how much money is on the table: No job is worth feeling uneasy every day.
If my real life was half as exciting as what is reported, I would be thrilled.
Sometimes it's not even a role that's specifically written for a woman. It could be a role written for a white man or Asian man, or Latino. If it's something that I feel I could do well, I go after it. Especially if it's nothing that has to be gender or race specific, I'm all over it.
When you want a break from dogs, and you take them to the kennel to the stars, no one thinks you're a bad pet owner. But when you have kids, you can't drop them off for three weeks without someone calling Child Protective Services!
We don't consider black, urban films as 'indies,' though many of them are shot for under $10 million which is kind of the definition of an indie.
Within a lot of African-American households, I think, there's an idea that black men don't want to take an active participation in the lives of their children. That if they do, there has to be some sort of ulterior motive.
I was always in the popular crowd, but I really had atrocious teeth. I was encouraged to 'do well in school, 'cause no one's going to marry you!'
I've always had an interest in sports across the board.
There's no such thing as a healthy tan, and that's what people need to understand.
Reality TV looks more like America than movies do.
I drink a gallon of water a day.
I date, but the person I date most is myself, unfortunately.
I love TV. I love the stability of it.
I'm not sensitive, I'm not a weepy person.
I think I'm drawn to more villain-type characters, because it's so cool to get to say all the things you want to say. In Hollywood, you get to this position where you have to bite your tongue so much. You take all your experiences of not being able to say what you really want to say, and channel that through your character.
I can't just say one time of the year I'm going to do something different. I have to commit to a lifestyle behavioral change and just try to be a little bit better today than I was yesterday.
In Hollywood, you play a mom, and the next thing you know, you're on 'The Golden Girls.' They age you so fast.
I think if we open ourselves to all different kinds of men and all groups, we find a lot more opportunities to love.
You have to develop a very thick skin.
You come to work and you laugh all day, you go home and you feel light and there's a certain feeling when you're sitting with the audience and they leave after 90 minutes and it's just pure escapism and they're happy.
Right now, I don't have the same urges as other women when they see a baby. When I see children, I see responsibilities, which I don't think I'm quite ready for. I feel the same about puppies. They're cute for a second, but there's a lot of responsibility involved.
The guys I tended to date, you know, didn't necessarily have it altogether but I had a great time.
I think there's a lot of things that occur within the African-American community, that we would prefer to stay within the African-American community - that we get a little nervous when you start having scenes or dialogue that we know is going to be viewed and heard on a national or global scale.
There's an inherent idea that if a Black executive producer and a Black director are going to do a movie based on a Black writer's book that everybody is going to be Black.
Just like I find men who talk sports who don't really know sports annoying, I think men might find women who don't really have a true passion and knowledge of sports maybe not so attractive.
All minorities think they're immune, but we're absolutely part of the one in five that gets skin cancer! It's a myth, and myths are meant to be debunked!
Hollywood panders to the 18-to-34 crowd. That demographic doesn't care about race and the package it comes in. They care about the hottest chick. They just like hot chicks.
I don't get enough sleep so I always have undereye bags.
Boys are so much drama.
When someone who loves and cares about me compliments me, I feel more glamorous than when the flashbulbs are going off on the red carpet.
You get so afraid of failure and so afraid of losing and so afraid of not being the best that it's not a natural drive - it's born out of fear of failure. Which helps in Hollywood.
I was at one time a football wife, and there is a certain level of bonding that happens between women who are the wives of football players.
I had to learn - since I'm divorced now and everyone is like, 'Oh my God, you're single, what's going on?' - that if I don't like to spend time with myself, how can I ask someone else to enjoy spending time with me? I'm getting to learn how to enjoy my solitude and have a good time.
I've dated a number of 'mama's boys.'
My friends are very opinionated about the people I date.
You have to be resilient.
