Writer/director Tyler Perry uses a father's custody battle for his children as the centerpiece for the romantic drama, Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls. Gabrielle Union (Deliver Us From Eva) stars as a Ivy-league-educated lawyer who helps the desperate dad take on the legal system.
The Appeal of Working with Tyler Perry: Before Union worked with Perry on Daddy’s Little Girls she checked out his stage show, something that really helped her understand the man and his audience. “I went to see him at the Kodak with some actor friends who were huge fans and said, ‘Just go and not just look at what’s happening on stage, but in the audience and you’ll understand what we’re talking about.’ I went and not only had he sold out three nights at the Kodak - and the last time I noticed that it was sold out was Prince and much less for a stage play - everyone was coming in in their Sunday best.
They came into the theater happy and they left happy. They cheered and talked. Some lady came in late and her cell phone rang and Tyler stopped the whole thing and talked to her. The whole audience was involved and laughing. No, it’s not your usual stage experience but at the end of the day, if people are moved and enjoyed themselves, felt like they got their money’s worth, then who the hell am I to judge what’s good and what’s not?
So that being the case, I rented Diary of a Mad Black Woman on DVD and watched it. I was balling my eyes out. I’m a huge fan of Kimberly Elise and you know, sometimes you get stuck in different roles. She’s always the long suffering wife or girlfriend. ‘Save my kid from the…,’ or whatever and here she is the true lead of this film. She’s carrying this film. She starts off as the long-suffering wife and then she evolves. Tyler takes her on this journey. She’s allowed to be beautiful and funny and dynamic. I was like, ‘I want that.’
I happened to find myself coincidentally, or maybe not, on the same flight as his agent. I said, ‘I want to work with Tyler. Can you hook me up?’ And a week or so later he set up lunch for me and Tyler. He got to writing and turned in the script a month later, started filming a few months after that. That never happens, but thank god for Tyler’s success ‘whatever you want to do’ and put it into turnaround really fast.”
Dating and Social Status: Asked if she could relate at all to the issue of not dating men from a lower social class Union replied, “Yeah, it’s an on-going debate I have with my girlfriends because what we say is, ‘I just want a good man,’ and there just isn’t a good man. What we are acknowledging is that we are holding on to this antiquated notion of who Prince Charming is and what package he’s going to come in. He’s going to come from this kind of family; he’s going to come riding in on a white horse or white Porsche - and he’s going to have this kind of paycheck. And on top of it all, he’s going to be great and kind and generous and sweet and… After a while, we stop focusing on great, kind, sweet, considerate and thoughtful and it’s really just about his socio-economic status has to match mine.
Our thing is that if you really just want a good man, there’s plenty of good men, but they might be a little thicker in the waist. They might have been around the block. They might have married and divorced or they might have kids, or they might not make as much as you do. But if what you’re really looking for is a life partner and a spiritual partner, which is so far beyond a financial business relationship, then you can find those anywhere. But we’re so caught up in they have to be this idea we developed as little kids when watching Disney movies, which is crap and unrealistic as an adult woman.
My thing is you can afford your own diamonds, what are you waiting for? We still want someone to come save us, but we’ve been saving ourselves our own lives. It’s like you don’t need that. Granted, you don’t want to support somebody’s lifestyle but as long as they’re responsible for themselves, they don’t have to make more than you. They don’t have to this, this and this. As long as they’re good people, they can still walk beside you.”
Enjoying the Single Life: Union says she's met some great guys but no, she’s not dating Derek Jeter. Union laughed, “Do you know if I was dating Derek Jeter, there would be a parade. I was like, ‘Why would I be keeping this under wraps?’ Please, everyone would know and there would be a spotlight on us at all times.”
Union added, “I talk to people and I date but literally this has been my boyfriend promoting this, and working on Football Wives. I’m generally not home. It’s nice to be around. I discovered in my marriage that, unfortunately, did not work out, that marriage kind of requires you to be home every now and then (laughing), which I wasn’t.”
Returning to TV After Night Stalker: Night Stalker was cancelled early on but that didn’t sour Union on doing television. “I love TV. I love the stability of it,” explained Union. “It’s kind of like the final frontier in true diversity and being a lot better in depicting the changing face of America, and actually offering leading roles to women of color and people of color. I think now that we’ve seen the last awards season, I think you can kind of agree that diversity not only pays off in the ratings but in just terms of talent that has been overlooked, and shapes and sizes that aren’t always represented in appropriate numbers to how they represent society and our population. I think TV is providing that.”
Union described her character in Football Wives: “I play Chardonnay Lane. She’s a diva singer on her way up. They were like, ‘Do you want to change the name?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ I get to live out all of my fantasies of being a pop star. I’m watching MTV, BET at home and I’m trying to do all the dance moves, but I’m going to have a lot of acid reflux… I cannot sing. I’ll be sleeping with humidifiers and what not.”
Union said there will be at least one major difference between the American and British versions. “They go full nudity so there’s going to be a couple changes. They’re not going to see my goods.”
