Gabrielle Union has offered a dose of wisdom on the ever-relatable topic of rejection.
Appearing on “The View” Thursday, Union wasn’t shy about her feelings on the less triumphant moments of her career.
“No matter how many successes you have, you’ve been rejected many times — especially as an actor,” host Joy Behar remarked. To which Union quickly responded, without missing a beat, “Daily!”
Behar pressed further, asking how the “Bring It On” star handles such setbacks.
“In the beginning of my career, I did not deal with it well,” Union admitted. “It just felt like your mother turning away from you when you’re crying out for help.”
And no matter how “good or bad” the job was, Union explained, the sting of rejection persisted in the early years of her career. But over time, she came to an important realization: “A lot of those rejections are actually protection.”
“I was protected from things that were happening on those sets,” Union said, suggesting that the jobs she didn’t land might have spared her from the chaos (or, more intriguingly, the secrets) lurking behind the scenes.
Union then went on to speak about the “power of no,” explaining how those early rejections helped her tap into her true self and discover her worth.
“I’m showing up fully me and fully free,” Union said on how she approaches projects she takes part in. “Some of those rejections are self-owned.”
Now, with the added title of producer under her belt, Union has learned that “so many of these decisions have nothing to do with anything — certainly not talent.”
“There was somebody who came in and they had the same perfume on as someone’s ex-wife,” revealed Union. “[They] gave the best read, but — and they were rejected.”
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Though rejection can often spark self-reflection and a desire for improvement, Union concluded with a reminder that sometimes the outcome is entirely out of our hands — and unrelated to our skills.