Gabrielle Union is Defining Success On Her Own Terms

Since you have worked on so many different shows and films, what makes you want to sign on to work on something at this point in your career?

Usually, I ask myself: Can I live without it? And if that answer is, yeah, then it’s probably not the job for me. But I’m going to obsess about it; I should do it. That’s kind of my North Star on if I should sign onto a project.  

You’ve had the privilege of working with and knowing some of the most incredible Black creatives in the film industry and beyond—how have you been able to redefine how you view community?

There are people I have been in community with who have not been in community with me. But when it’s a symbiotic relationship, it means that people are okay with making themselves uncomfortable. If there’s a greater good at stake, it means showing up and standing shoulder to shoulder and being the cavalry when it’s needed. There has to be mutual respect and mutual love on some level, and when that is there, we’re unstoppable. And anytime I’ve stepped out on faith and done a hard thing, I was never alone. Certainly, the black entertainment community and the global black community have always been ten toes down for me, and that’s how I’ve come to define community. It’s asking yourself: do you live this? Do you breathe this? Will you lose sleep if you don’t stand, you know, together? I think for a lot of us,  it took us a while to get to that point, but now we are arriving in droves at that place.