Gabrielle Union Reveals Her And Dwyane Wade’s Kids Wanted Her To Quit Acting So They Could Be A “Normal Family”

 Gabrielle Union is letting us in on some of her family business. 

On Gwyneth Paltrow’s The Goop podcast, Union shared that at one point, she and Dwyane Wade’s kids wanted her to quit acting so that they could be like a “normal family.”

According to Union, when the kids – Zaya and Zaire along with Dwyane and Gabrielle’s nephew Dahveon Morris – were in their preteen phase, they looked up how much their dad was making, and once they saw he was rich, they thought Union should take a step back from the limelight. 

“They had gotten into this stage as preteens where they just wanted us to be like other families,” she said. “They had looked up how much their dad made, and they thought that I should not work. I should just be at home like the other moms of their friends because ‘dad is rich’ and you should just stay home, and we should be a normal family like everyone else.'”

The A-lister talked about how after dating Wade for six years, the kids were relieved they finally decided to tie the knot. But, Union still choosing to work was something they did not view as ordinary. 

“They just wanted to be normal, whatever that is,” Union explained. “By the time we got married, it was just, I think, relief for them, which isn’t always an emotion you associate with kids in this situation. And they were like, ‘Ah, we’re a normal family! Wait. You’re leaving. And dad’s still rich, so what’s happening here?’ “

Well, what was happening is that Union decided long ago that she wanted to make a career and name for herself long before she even met Wade. Something she had become very successful at. 

“Sometimes, women want to work and have a career and just do other things, and this is what makes me who I am,” the Bring It On actress told her stepchildren, hoping they would understand someday. 

“It doesn’t mean I love you any less, or I don’t want the job, or I don’t love being your stepmother. I will do my best to be here for all of the things that you want me to be here [for] while at the same time making sure that space for mom or dad is there. It is the golden seat of honor, always.’ And we just move that way.”

As for Union’s stellar acting career, she has been “one of the most famed women leading breakthrough moments in Black television and film,” Complex reported.