Gabrielle Union

Gabrielle Union was married to NFL player Chris Howard from 2001 to 2006. She has been married to former basketball player Dwyane Wade since 2014, and became stepmother to his children Zaire, Zaya and Xavier.

Union and Wade welcomed their daughter, Kaavia James Union Wade, in 2018 through a surrogate. Union and Wade have also described moving their family from Florida to California partly because of Florida's anti-LGBTQ environment.

Union began acting with minor television roles, including appearances in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Moesha, Sister, Sister, Smart Guy, 7th Heaven and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She also appeared as Kristen, a love interest to both Ross and Joey, in an episode of Friends.

Her early film credits included She's All That, 10 Things I Hate About You and Love & Basketball. Her breakthrough came with the role of Isis in the 2000 cheerleading film Bring It On, which helped establish her as a mainstream performer. The film earned her a Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Union followed the film with a main role as Dr. Courtney Ellis in the CBS medical drama City of Angels. Her other major roles during the 2000s included The Brothers, Deliver Us from Eva, Bad Boys II, Cradle 2 the Grave, Neo Ned, Daddy's Little Girls and Cadillac Records. She won Best Actress at the Palm Beach International Film Festival for Neo Ned.

Union played her first leading film role as Evangeline "Eva" Dandrige in Deliver Us from Eva. She also portrayed Sydney "Syd" Burnett in Bad Boys II, a role she later reprised in the television spin-off L.A.'s Finest.

In 2013, she began starring as journalist Mary Jane Paul in BET's Being Mary Jane. The series ran through 2019 and earned Union an NAACP Image Award. She had previously auditioned for the role of Olivia Pope in Scandal, which went to Kerry Washington.

Her later film credits include Think Like a Man, Think Like a Man Too, Top Five, The Birth of a Nation, Almost Christmas, Sleepless, Breaking In, The Inspection, Strange World, The Perfect Find and Space Cadet. She has also voiced Nala in The Lion Guard and appeared as a judge on the fourteenth season of America's Got Talent.

Union published the memoir We're Going to Need More Wine in 2017. The book explores sexuality, womanhood, friendship, race, marriage and beauty, and was named a best book of the year by The Root.

She later published the children's book Welcome to the Party in 2020 and the memoir You Got Anything Stronger? in 2021. She also collaborated with Dwyane Wade on the children's book Shady Baby, inspired by their daughter Kaavia.

As a producer, Union has worked on projects including Being Mary Jane, Breaking In, Almost Christmas, With This Ring, L.A.'s Finest, The Inspection, The Perfect Find and The Idea of You. Her commercial projects have included the textured-hair-care line Flawless by Gabrielle Union, the plus-size clothing line Love & Blessings, a watch collection created with Invicta Watch Group and the chardonnay Vanilla Puddin'.

Union has advocated for survivors of sexual assault, women's health, LGBTQ+ equality and violence against women. She has spoken publicly about surviving a rape at gunpoint at age 19 and has emphasized the value of therapy and support after trauma.

She served on the National Advisory Committee for Violence Against Women after being appointed by President Barack Obama. She also supported Obama's presidential campaigns, participated in the campaign's Greater Together initiative and encouraged voter participation through VoteRiders.

Union has served as an ambassador for Susan G. Komen for the Cure's Circle of Promise and as a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood's breast health initiative. She was included on Time's 2020 list of the 100 most influential people and received the NAACP Image Awards' President's Award with Dwyane Wade for humanitarian efforts.