Last night, Ocean Drive magazine had a great event celebrating February cover star Gabrielle Union. The beauty and her beau Dwyane Wade mingled at an exclusive dinner party at Bianca in the Delano hotel. In celebration of her February cover of Ocean Drive magazine, Gabrielle Union hosted an exclusive dinner party at Bianca in the Delano hotel. When asked about her Ocean Drive magazine cover, Gabrielle Union mentioned she was super humbled. She remembers always receiving the magazine while she was living in Miami for six months filming “Bad Boys” and said that to now join the ranks of such great talents in a city she loves so much is really a honor.
We have a preview of Ocean Drive magazine’s February issue with actress, activist and star of the upcoming films, Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds and Steve Harvey’s Think Like a Man, Gabrielle Union! Dwayne Wade’s long-time girlfriend opens up to the mag about their relationship, her part-time life in Miami and her favorite spots in South Beach. The stunning 39-year old also opens up about roles for African American women in Hollywood and maintaining friendships with other leading ladies.
Union on her life in Miami and long-time boyfriend, Miami Heat superstar Dwayne Wade:
“When I land in Miami, I feel like I’ve been holding my breath and am finally exhaling. I can breathe. I feel accepted, welcomed.” She goes on about Wade saying: “But D and I have a life together, too. I love my life in Miami. I can’t imagine functioning without both. I love the Design District, I love Midtown, I love what’s happening downtown now. I can be at People’s Bar-B-Que or Sustain or Prime One Twelve, and I’m comfortable. It’s rare for me to feel that level of freedom. Miami represents joy to me.” She goes on describing when she goes head to head on the court with Wade: “ I’ll occasionally shoot around with D or rebound for him,” she says, then admits, “I don’t have a half-assed switch-it’s either full-out or we’re playing H-O-R-S-E. So I’m likely to get a black eye or bust my nose or roll around scrambling for the ball and get court burns.”
Union on the prejudices that still exist for African Americans in Hollywood:
“There are a lot of people who won’t give me a chance because I was in Bring it On a thousand years ago. They don’t think I can be more than that sassy sidekick. I guess they didn’t’ see Cadillac Records or Neo Ned.” (the highly rated 2005 indie film in which Union played an asylum inmate claiming to be Adolf Hitler reincarnated) “I try not to play the coulda, woulda, shoulda game. But there are so many great shows I wish I could be part of. I would love to be a black person in Middle Earth! If we can have hobbits, then there can be black hobbits, too right? If the craziest part of our imaginations can come up with Gollum and hobbits and quests for rings, there should be somebody there who looks like me. And remember Cold Mountain? Renee Zellweger? That was a black woman (in the book the movie is based on). So clearly, we can re-imagine books.”
Union on maintaining friendships with her co-stars throughout the years:
She considers Robinne Lee and Essence Atkins, both of whom she met making Deliver us from Eva in 2003, her “sisters” “We talk almost every day; we talked this morning!” She remains close with her costars from Bring it On as well, Kirsten Dunst, Nicole Bilderback, Bianca Kajlich, and Eliza Dushku. “In terms of the social calendar, it’s tough,” she admits, “but when I see them, it’s all love. Early in my career, my mentor was Jennifer Lewis,” she says, who was “always there for advice, for tears, for laughter.” These days she has a “tight collective” of actress friends including Sanaa Lathan, Regina Hall, Regina King, Tichina Arnold, Atkins and Lee. “It’s funny because we’re all up for the same roles, crying over the same spilt milk. We have this joke: If I don’t get this role, I hope you do, because I need a loan!”
Union also alludes to the notion of motherhood and the next five years, something she hasn’t pondered until recently with the pregnancy and birth of her friend Essence Atkins’ child. “After going to see my girlfriend Essence (Atkins) do an ultrasound in the third trimester, and seeing it in 3-D, I broke down in tears. I was never someone who thought about having kids—I mean, they’re great in theory, but I never imagined having one (myself.) Maybe over the next five years I could wrap my brain around becoming a mother and what that would mean in terms of sacrifice and dedication”
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