Gabrielle Union was born on October 29, 1973 in Omaha, Nebraska, where she lived until she was eight years old. The family then moved to Pleasanton, California and she became an athlete in high school, competing in soccer, basketball, and track. During her senior year at UCLA, she took on an internship at a modeling agency and was often mistaken for a model herself. Seeing a future in the business, she dropped her plans of becoming a lawyer go and signed on as a model. A few days later, Gabrielle was working her first big shoot, a spread for Teen magazine.

Soon after, auditions for small appearances in television shows followed, and Gabrielle landed a guest role on Saved by the Bell: The New Class. Spots on Moesha, 7th Heaven and Clueless, as well as a more significant role on the short-lived CBS drama City of Angels helped her gain recognition, but it took the teen movies She's All That, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Bring it On to really boost her career. She even broke ground on Friends in 2001 as the first African-American love interest for one of the characters.

Gabrielle is primed for a successful future. Abandon, the thriller directed by Stephen Gaghan, was

ased in fall 2002 and although she was only a supporting actress, her portrayal of Katie Holmes' concerned friend did not go unnoticed. Welcome to Collinwood, released in 2002, received rave reviews since it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, while the highly anticipated Bad Boys 2 is set for release this summer. After that comes Neo Ned and The Break Up