Actress Gabrielle Union reflected on her performance in Bring It On, noting that she regrets not allowing her character to be more demonstratively angry. Starring Kirsten Dunst opposite Union, the cult cheerleading classic was released in 2000. Bring It On was followed by a number of direct-to-video sequels, though none featured Dunst, Union, or their co-stars Eliza Dushku and Jesse Bradford.
The comedy follows Dunst’s suburban cheerleading squad as they compete to win another national title, only to learn that their former captain had stolen routines from a competing squad of Black cheerleaders in East Compton. Union’s portrayal of Isis, the East Compton Clovers’ captain, is considered to be her breakout role. Directed by Peyton Reed, who later helmed the Ant-Man franchise, Bring It On celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, sparking fond remembrances from cast members and fans.
Per THR, Union remarked on her 21-year-old performance while speaking to Good Morning America, noting that she chose to “muzzle” her character and make her “appropriate.” More than twenty years in hindsight, Union regrets her depiction of Isis, wishing the character had expressed the full scope of her rage. “I realized that I need to come to grips and acknowledge where I failed Isis,” said Union. Read more from Union below:
“I was given full range to do whatever I wanted with Isis in Bring It On, and I chose respectability and to be classy and take the high road because I felt like that would make her be appropriate, the right kind of Black girl…Black girls aren’t allowed to be angry. Certainly not demonstratively angry, and I muzzled her… I made her gracious, this decent, kind leader, and I was still a villain in that movie for making her want accountability for the theft of their work product and the cultural appropriation. I did all that shape-shifting for a character not even realizing I was doing that to myself, too. I wasn’t allowing myself the full range of my humanity.”
As Union notes above, part of her reasoning in portraying Isis as a “gracious leader” was an attempt to avoid villainizing her character. Unfortunately, some viewers still perceived Isis as the bad guy, rendering Union’s attempts somewhat futile. Peyton Reed and screenwriter Jessica Bendinger have publicly rebuked such perceptions, stating that the tension within Bring It On isn’t so much personified in an individual as it is the issues of cultural theft, appropriation, and facing one’s own moral compass.
Union’s memories and regrets mark a self-reflective shift in her career, as the actress has now authored two memoirs—2017’s We’re Going to Need More Wine and her newest release, You Got Anything Stronger? Most recently, she starred in the comedy action crime series, L.A.’s Finest. Still, calls for another Bring It On sequel have grown following the film’s anniversary, and Union has teased an original cast reunion. If she does indeed reprise her role as Isis, perhaps the actress will redeem the character and portray her with, as Union hopes, “her full humanity.”
Source: THR