Her jock husband, NFL player Chris Howard and jockish talents might have led people to believe Union would have had a much-different career than what it turned out to be.
But the five foot eight inch tall model, athlete and actress is a monumental attraction on the silver screen and has already got a list of shows to prove it.
In addition to having played in the television sitcom Saved by the Bell, Union played on several hit TV shows including 7th Heaven, Moesha, Clueless and the CBS medical drama City of Angels that aired in 2000.
Before having a highly identifiable face in the Hollywood scene, Union was enjoying life in Omaha, Nebraska and Pleasanton, California, the place where she grew up and attended high school.
During her teen years, Union, or Gabby to her friends, was a cheerleader and later an all-star point guard and year-round athlete who enjoyed participating in soccer, basketball and track.
Soccer continued into her college years when she played on the University of Nebraska soccer team.
Eventually, she ended up at UCLA where her aspirations took another turn, following her graduation from the college's sociology program, and law school was in the forefront. But during her senior year, modeling was becoming more and more important and working with an LA modeling agency, she ended up modeling and acting full time.
Her film credits include popular teen movies including She's All That, 10 Things I Hate About You, released in 1999 and 2000's Bring it On where she played the captain of the Clovers cheerleading squad to really boost her career. The following year she got television reviewers talking with her appearance on Friends where she played the first African-American love interest of any of the characters.
Her most recent film credit roles include the romantic lead in the sequel blockbuster Bad Boys 2 where she plays alongside of Will Smith.