Gabrielle Union dressed up as Janet Jackson to audition for a part in The Matrix – only to discover the real singer was also trying out for the role.
Gabrielle copied the “Control” singer’s clothes, hair, and even her trademark mole, to give her an edge over the other hopefuls. But she was stunned when the real Janet Jackson walked in and sat down opposite her.
Gabrielle recalled her awkward encounter with the music icon, according to WENN.com.
“Everyone and their mother was auditioning for The Matrix,” she told The Late Late Show With James Corden.
“I went to audition (and) I needed to feel like the most powerful, beautiful and amazing woman in the world, so of course, I wanted to channel Janet Jackson,” she said.
“I go to Extensions Plus, which is, like, the Mecca of (hair) weaves. I wanted to get the good hair, the Janet hair, from the weave emporium. I literally find the exact outfit from her album cover. I draw in the damn mole. I fully committed. I play Janet the whole time, waiting for the audition, in there early. No one’s going to stop me… (and) in walks Janet Jackson.
“The same audition, and I’m cosplaying as Janet, with a weird drawn-on mole. Neither of us got it. I think we canceled each other out.”
When the two stars crossed paths later at a Miami, Florida nightclub, Gabrielle wasn’t sure she wanted to meet the singer after their embarrassing audition moment.
However, the singer’s then-boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri, told her Janet wanted to say hello, and the starstruck actress burst into tears.
“I’m bawling in the club, snot bubbles, the whole thing… but now she knows I’m a weirdo,” Gabrielle recalled.
“I don’t know what’s about to happen, and I get there, and she jumps up and gives me a hug and says, ‘I’m so proud of you…!’ Now we’re friends.”
