Gabrielle Union has been in a high-profile marriage with basketball star Dwyane Wade for nearly ten years. This information is important because in her latest film on the Netflix movie schedule: The Perfect Find she plays a 40-year-old fashion media mogul who falls for a college grad. While making the film, Union actually used her real-life romance with her husband, who is nine years younger, to serve as inspiration for the Netflix release. Now, she's opening up about it.
Based on the romance novel by Tia Williams, the Netflix rom-com The Perfect Find stars Gabrielle Union whose character Jenna gets out of a public long-term relationship, and then falls for a man who is not only much younger than her but is the son of her new boss. This is a role the actress could completely relate to, as she told USA Today. She explained how her and Wade's age difference impacted their relationship at first, and how she drew inspiration from it, saying:
I lived it. Being with someone who’s nine years younger than me and dealing with it. In the very beginning, [Wade’s mother] was like ... ‘What do you want?’ ... So you pull from those things.
There is 100% a societal standard around age gaps in a relationship, and it sounds like Union had dealt with said pressure. In the end, though, age doesn’t always define a person’s maturity. Gabrielle Union met former NBA player Dwyane Wade in 2008, and they got married on August 30, 2014. She’s the stepmother to three of his children and the two had a daughter together via surrogacy in 2018. There may be a nine-year age gap between them, but they’re still going strong after eight years of marriage, being parents to their children, and the actress explaining to her husband the meaning of eggplant emojis.
Another person who finds The Perfect Find story very relatable is Union’s co-star Keith Powers who plays her love interest that’s 20 years her junior. Just like the character of Jenna made headlines for the ending of her high-profile relationship, Powers could relate to the story as he went through a public breakup with actress Ryan Destiny. He explained that he could understand the tension of your loved ones finding out about it through the media. The Bring It On star has also been in the public eye with her husband, and there are always stories being written about them, like the time they went 1,400% over their water allotment during a drought in California.
One benefit of Keith Powers being much younger than Gabrielle Union is being able to see her most iconic roles. He told USA Today that he likes to revisit her classic cheerleader movie Bring It On, but was sold the most by her performance in the action-comedy Bad Boys II. He must have felt so much nostalgia being in this talented actress’s presence. Honestly, I didn't notice such a big age difference watching the trailer, and the chemistry between the two is stronger than any age gap just like with Union and her own husband.
If Gabrielle Union was able to channel the real-life age-gap challenges she went through with her husband Dwyane Wade for her new book-to-screen adaptation, that should mean we’ll be experiencing some sweet chemistry and a very realistic love story in The Perfect Find. You can watch the rom-com now with a Netflix subscription.
