Gabrielle Union Felt ‘Invisible’ Being Typecast as ‘the Bitchy, Sassy Friend’: ‘Like My Beauty Wasn’t Wanted’

“10 Things I Hate About You. Then She’s All That. Then the following summer, Bring It On,” she says in the Apple TV+ documentary ‘Number One on the Call Sheet’

Gabrielle Union isn’t someone to shy away from uncomfortable topics, and here’s one that’s on her radar: the impossible — and unfair — beauty standards Black actresses are held to in Hollywood.

In the new documentary Number One on the Call Sheet, Union, 52, and a number of other Black A-listers, including Angela Bassett, Halle Berry and Viola Davis, discuss the triumphs and tribulations they’ve been dealt in their chosen career. Union, in particular, has quite a bit to say about how Black isn’t always considered beautiful by the powers that be in the documentary’s second episode, “Black Leading Women in Hollywood,” which was directed by Shola Lynch,

And for Black actresses, that’s been a major hurdle to getting leading roles — to being number one on the call sheet.

“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 says, adding, “I started feeling invisible, like my beauty wasn’t wanted. As a romantic lead? No.”

This might seem hard to believe coming from one of Hollywood’s most beautiful stars. But neither Union’s looks nor her talent led to the kind of opportunities her White contemporaries like Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner and Gwyneth Paltrow have been given, especially earlier in her film career, which began with a sidekick role in the 1999 teen rom-com She’s All That.

“My look was appealing enough. But not so overpowering that it overshadows the White lead,” Union says.

At this point in the episode a portion of the 10 Things I Hate About You script flashes on the screen over a bathroom scene from the movie with Union, who played Chastity Church in the 1999 teen rom-com, and Larisa Oleynik, who played Bianca Stratford.

It reads: “BIANCA STRATFORD, a beautiful sophomore, stares facing the mirror. Her less extraordinary, but still cute friend, CHASTITY, stands next to her.”

“And so I was the perfect person to be ‘the friend,’ just left of center of this White girl,” Union adds, before correcting herself. “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 have a solid film career, though often still in supporting roles, while taking the lead in the 2014–2017 BET TV series Being Mary Jane, in which she played the title character.

“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+.