Gabrielle Union believes that she was typecast as a Black actress with unfair beauty standards set by the entertainment industry.
During the “Black Leading Women in Hollywood”, the second episode of Number One on the Call Sheet, Union explained what some executives thought of Black actresses and the roles they were offered.
“When you have a more coarse grade of hair, when you have melanin, thicker nose, wider nose, wider lips, you’re not considered, you know, a classic beauty,” Union shared. “I started feeling invisible like my beauty wasn’t wanted. As a romantic lead? No.”
According to Union, his looks did not catapult her into roles that her white contemporaries, Amy Adams and Jennifer Garner. She launched into stardom with a sidekick role in the iconic 1999 teen film She’s All That.
“My look was appealing enough. But not so overpowering that it overshadows the White lead,” Union says.
“And so I was the perfect person to be ‘the friend,’ just left of center of this White girl,” Union continued. “These — ’cause there was a series of them: 10 Things I Hate About You. Then She’s All That. Then the following summer, Bring It On. You know, and that was my bread and butter, like, for a long time. The bitchy, sassy friend.”
Union would go on to amass an impressive filmography of TV and film credits. From 2014–2017, she starred in the hit BET drama Being Mary Jane,
“These women represent a singular generation of Black leading actresses — some of the best of the best,” Lynch says of the episode she directed. “And I had the great opportunity and responsibility of capturing all of their greatness into one documentary — talk about pressure.”
Number One on the Call Sheet is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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