Actress Gabrielle Union is covering the latest edition of Ocean Drive magazine. The two-time cover star, who confirms the season four renewal of her BET drama, Being Mary Jane, talks about her upcoming movie roles, including the “small but pivotal” part she plays in the highly anticipated Nate Parker film The Birth of a Nation.
According to Gabrielle, the role is the smallest she’s ever taken, but says it was also “easily the most challenging and rewarding.”
“I play Esther, a married field slave who is sometimes called upon to work in the house. On one such occasion she catches the eye of one of the plantation’s white guests who sees her and feels entitled to her body. What happens to her is one of the things that sets in motion one of the most successful slave liberations in the history of our country.”
Gabrielle goes on to say “I just really wanted to—not only as an actor, but as a sexual-assault victim myself—convey the powerlessness that one feels, the voicelessness, the terror, the heartbreak, the physical, emotional, spiritual devastation. This experience was extremely powerful and moving, and it happened at the right time in my life, when I needed to find more purpose in my work. And I found it.”
The 43-year-old actress said that her stepchildren were the “driving force” behind her 2014 nuptials to NBA star, Dwyane Wade.
“D and I could have gone on for a long time as boyfriend and girlfriend, but the kids were the driving force in wanting us to be a legitimate, like, real – and I’m using my finger quotes – family in their eyes,” she said. “We got on board with it, and it’s the best decision we could have made – not just for us as a couple, but for our family.”
