There was once a time when we could turn on the television and not really see anyone who looked like us. And that time was not too long ago. Television has made some progress with shows Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and Being Mary Jane being some of the most-watched during primetime.
Ahead of its season two premiere, Mary Jane leading lady Gabrielle Union makes a cameo in ELLE magazine’s “Women in TV” issue, where she chats about the progress that still needs to happen, talks the state of diversity in entertainment, and expresses her disappointment in not being cast as Scandal’s Olivia Pope.
“How many times was there going to be a show about a black woman run by a black woman?” she says. “I thought it was lightning in a bottle.”
Years later, she nabbed the role on the BET hit-series, which brought in around three million viewers per episode during the first season.
“The ratings show all kinds of people relate, not just black women,” Union says. “If we can have drones, we can have brown people on TV, and the world won’t end! We need to catch up. We are painfully behind.”
See what else she has to say in the January 13 issue.
PHOTO CREDIT & SOURCE: ELLE Magazine
