It’s funny how life works out. Gabrielle Union was this close to landing Scandal, but the role went to Kerry Washington instead. But did she let that stop her? Nope. Instead of dwelling on it, she used it as fuel to aim even higher! And guess what, she found her own lane with Being Mary Jane, a show that quickly became a hit. With a 7.6 rating on IMDb and over 4.4K votes, Being Mary Jane became the talk in the town.

“I didn’t get Scandal, but I got something better — which is my own show. It’s all about building a legacy. This new opportunity is something I feel that can grow,” Gabrielle Union once said.

But here’s the twist—while Union was loving every bit of her role, Dwyane Wade had some reservations. During an interview on Sherri’s YouTube channel, she was asked about the best part of playing Mary Jane. Without hesitation, she said, “Oh, all the things you want to say in real life, but it’s too mean. She got to say them all. She got to say it.”

Then she let it slip—Wade wasn’t exactly thrilled about one particular aspect of the show. “And she got to have like a big s– life. My husband, he didn’t like that part as much,” she admitted.

But for Union, that was part of what made the show groundbreaking. “It was such a s–y show. Black women got to be complex, and you got to see black love in all its incarnations.” Being Mary Jane wasn’t just about relationships—it was about representation, depth, and showing the full spectrum of Black women’s experiences.

Looking back, missing out on Scandal was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to her. Union was actually one of the final contenders before Washington landed the role of Olivia Pope. But instead of feeling slighted, she took it as motivation. However, what did bother her? The endless comparisons between the two shows.

Gabrielle Union was bothered by the comparisons

It’s no secret that Gabrielle Union had her eyes set on Scandal. She wanted the role badly, but when Kerry Washington was chosen instead, Union saw the bigger picture. “I said to myself, ‘Oh my God, these roles are out there,’” she once shared. That realization pushed her to aim higher, and it paid off. Being Mary Jane came her way.

Instead of playing Olivia Pope, Union took on the role of Mary Jane Paul, a sharp and ambitious broadcast journalist navigating her personal and professional life. And she owned it. The BET series gave her something even more valuable—her own space to shine. For Union, that made missing out on Scandal a small price to pay.

But with both shows airing around the same time, comparisons were inevitable. Union, however, wasn’t buying into it. To her, Scandal and Being Mary Jane were two completely different stories, and lumping them together didn’t make sense.

“What bugs me is that they’re making the comparison because they’re both shows that star Black women,” she said. “It’s such apples and oranges. It’s like comparing True Detective and Law & Order—you would never do that.”

For her, it wasn’t just about her show—it was about the lack of diversity on TV. “We need so much more diversity in TV… If that happens, the world isn’t going to end.”