Gabrielle Union Had Trouble Convincing Film Studios of Her Real Age After ‘Bring It On’

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Although <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/gabrielle-union/”>Gabrielle Union</a>’s career took off thanks to Bring It On, there were a few things <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/gabrielle-union-regretted-bring-it-on-character.html/”>she regretted about doing the feature</a>. Additionally, the classic comedy had an unforeseen side-effect on her ability to audition for future projects.

<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-bring-it-on-made-it-harder-for-gabrielle-union-to-audition-for-more-mature-characters”>‘Bring It On’ made it harder for Gabrielle Union to audition for more mature characters</h2>

<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Bring-It-On-Gabrielle-Union.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Gabrielle Union posing at the world premiere of ‘Strange World’.” class=”wp-image-3789097″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Gabrielle Union | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic</figcaption></figure>

Union was often able to get away with playing characters who were much younger than her while her career was on the rise. She got into the film industry during her short stint as a model, where she met a manager who encouraged her to pursue acting. After taking the manager’s life-changing advice, Union found herself playing mostly teenagers in the beginning of her new career.

“In a matter of weeks I booked parts on Saved By the Bell: The New Class, Moesha, Sister, Sister, Smart Guy and 7th Heaven. It wasn’t until about three years later when I was working on ER that I decided I needed to get an acting coach. My character was supposed to get misty and I had a difficult time getting teary. Now I work with an acting coach on more difficult material,” she once said according to <a href=”https://www.blackfilm.com/20040507/features/gabrielleunion.shtml”>Black Film</a>.

Her career trajectory led her to playing <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/bring-it-on-wasnt-the-first-cheerleader-role-for-gabrielle-union.html/?swcfpc=1″>a cheerleader on Bring It On</a>, which at one point was Union’s most popular film role. Because of her experiences portraying teenagers already, Union revealed she was simply offered one of her most iconic parts.

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“I actually didn’t have to audition,” she said in an interview with <a href=”https://ew.com/article/2015/10/09/bring-it-cast-reunion-ew/”>Entertainment Weekly</a>. “I had done a lot of teen-oriented films – 10 Things I Hate About You, She’s All That, Love & Basketball – and I had a recurring role on 7th Heaven…A lot of those leader-type popular-girl roles, so I think I was on their radar.”

But doing Bring It On was a catch-22 for Union. She was so memorable in the role, that her character Isis was all casting directors usually saw when auditioning her. This posed a problem when Union decided she wanted to age up her characters.

“It was a difficult transition because I was 25 years old playing 15-year-old characters that I had nothing in common with,” Union said. “Once the teen flick genre fizzled out, I was looking to play older characters, but the last thing people remembered me from was playing a cheerleader in Bring It On. It was difficult even getting seen to audition because no one believed my real age or that I had the life experience necessary to play these more mature characters.”

<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-how-gabrielle-union-escaped-being-typecast-in-bring-it-on”>How Gabrielle Union escaped being typecast in ‘Bring It On’ </h2>

Ironically, Bring It On also helped Union break free of being typecast as a teenager in films. The L.A.’s Finest actor starred in the 2001 feature The Brothers, which saw her playing a mature love interest in a romantic comedy. The film was directed by Gary Hardwood, who also worked on Bring It On with Union.

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“Gary Hardwood who did the rewrites on Bring It On finally gave me a chance on the film The Brothers. We hung out a little and he got a chance to know the really Gabrielle. He actually gave me the opportunity when no one wanted to see me,” she said.

Union would play other more mature characters in films like Bad Boys 2 and Cradle 2 The Grave. However, despite her success, she still had trouble getting the success she craved. So Union decided to add more diversity in her filmography by doing more Independent features.

“Sanaa [Lathan] is <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/gabrielle-union-walked-meeting-mistaken-sanaa-lathan.html/”>one of my good friends</a> and I just came from seeing her on Broadway last night. For about a year after she finished shooting Out Of Time and I was shooting Bad Boys II, we thought we had finally made it and we were having a ball. Then one day we both find ourselves looking for jobs. I found myself saying now what. I’d done the romantic comedy thing and two action films. I was looking to stretch and grow and I decided on an independent because I felt it would give me an opportunity to try something different,” she said.