Gabrielle Union made a name for herself in the best teen movies of the ‘90s, like She’s All That and 10 Things I Hate About You. We also can’t forget one of her most iconic roles as rival cheerleader, Isis, in Bring It On. But the American actress reveals that when she first started in Hollywood, she made a “stupid” purchase after earning her first paycheck.
When you receive a paycheck from a new job bigger than anything you’ve ever received before, it’s natural to want to go all out. After all, Chris Pratt admitted to blowing $75K he earned from his first big job, only to be surprised when it was all gone in two months.
Gabrielle Union certainly didn’t waste time with her big paycheck either. At the American Black Film Festival in Miami (via People), the Being Mary Jane actress got real about the “stupid” purchase she made with her first paycheck. But as she was an up-and-coming actress at the time, I honestly find it understandable:
So stupid. I went on the Mazda lot. I’m like, ‘Oh, I’ve made it when I have a Mazda.’ My dad’s like, ‘Don’t buy a brand new car. It depreciates the second you drive it off the lot.’ I walked into Mazda and I bought myself a black on black Mazda Miata with leather seats. Lemme tell you about leather seats in Los Angeles. Do you know I scorched myself every time I got out? Yeah, that was my first purchase. And it depreciated the second I drove it off the lot!
A flaming hot car seat is definitely not fun to sit in on the road. You’d really have to invest in some windshield shades to prevent that from happening.
I totally see where Gabrielle Union was coming from, wanting to buy your dream car after receiving some major Hollywood moolah. But like Union's father told her, a new car can be a risky investment with the excitement fading as soon as you think about the upkeep, depreciation, and your back burning from the leather seats. Don’t you hate having to admit when your parents are right about something?
While Gabrielle Union doesn’t mention which project came from her first big paycheck, I’d like to think she was talking about her unforgettable breakthrough performance in Bring It On. While She’s All That was Union’s first major movie role, she was more of a supporting character. Playing East Compton Clovers cheerleader Isis had her standing toe-to-toe with Kirsten Dunst and delivering fiercely snappy lines that would show that she's leading lady material. Given what an excellent performance she gave, I would say the Deliver Us From Eva actress deserved a hefty sum for it.
With Gabrielle Union now in her 50s, it makes sense why she’d look back at her first big paycheck purchase of a Mazda as “stupid.” But hey, we're only human. With all of the major movies she did early in her career and the excellent work that followed, Union’s value in Hollywood has only gone up. Working as an actress, producer, and her own successful business of hair products, the BET Award nominee has plenty of wins that can make her early big car purchase seem like an afterthought now.
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