Many of us are in intense anticipation for Gabrielle Union‘s new show, Being Mary Jane, to make its return to the TV screen as a series and while we wait the actress is giving us something to feed our antsy.
D.Wade’s boo is beautifully gracing the December issue of Essence magazine and before we go any further we must say JEEZUS! 41 never looked so good!
Styled by June Ambrose, Gabrielle stuns in a Bibhu Mohapatra gown and Stella Valle earrings.
The cover girl took a moment to discuss her drive behind her past mean girl behavior in the acting industry, which she got into in a must-see powerful speech at the ESSENCE magazine’s sixth annual Black Women in Hollywood pre-Oscars® luncheon, earlier this year.
She says:
“There’s this intense desire for us all to be chosen by a man, or a job, or chosen for fame, whatever. But when you’re in the public eye and you’re not chosen, the rejection feels public. So to cover the wound, you attack the person who is chosen.”
Gabrielle, who credits life coach AJ Johnson for getting her out from under a negative cloud in her life, also shared how an incident of “rejection” led to a huge opportunity. She told the mag that after she lost the lead role in Jumping The Broom to Paula Patton, director Salim Akil was still so impressed by her skills that he recommended her to Mara Brock Akil for the role of “Mary Jane.”
Owww!
As for her role on the upcoming BET show:
It would be easy to label Mary Jane a freak…but enjoying sex doesn’t make you a ho. I hope [Being Mary Jane] widens the conversation. I hope people will be more forgiving of those who explore their sexuality unapologetically.”
#preach!
It looks like her off-screen love life is going way more perfectly than her role Mary Jane, considering she just celebrated her 41st birthday with her boo Dwyane Wade, who had a special surprise for her. Her NBA man got her a ring…a championship ring that is!
Showing up to her big bash, D-Wade came with a ring box that he presented to Gabby with his championship ring inside!
Now that she’s his official lady, maybe Dwyane is practicing his ring-presenting for a possible engagement in the future? Either way, these two are a match-made in heaven!
Check out behind the scenes footage from her Essence shoot here. The issue hits newsstands Nov 8th.
PHOTO CREDIT: Essence/Instagram
