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NEED TO KNOW
- Gabrielle Union revealed to PEOPLE how and where she plans to celebrate her 53rd birthday on Oct. 29
- The actress and entrepreneur also explained her mindset at this chapter in her life
- “I’m proud of myself and I’m finally giving my younger self grace for not being perfect and still being open to learning, and my grandmother lived to be 110 years old, so I got a good 60-plus years to continue to make myself proud,” she says
For her upcoming 53rd birthday plans, Gabrielle Union would rather not keep them secret — or “acqua in bocca” them, as the Italians might say.
Speaking to PEOPLE in an exclusive interview at the Peabody Trailblazer Award ceremony honoring Questlove on Friday, Oct. 10, the actress, 52, revealed she’ll be in Italy filming a project when she turns 53 on Oct. 29.
“Hopefully my husband takes me out on the town,” Union says of her partner — retired NBA star Dwyane Wade, 43 — who will be in Italy with her.
Gabrielle Union/Instagram
The entrepreneur adds that it will be “iconic” to celebrate her birthday with “a couple of cocktails” in “such a romantic, beautiful and fun city.”
Asked how it feels to “still be that girl,” the Bring It On and Love & Basketball star laughed and gave a reflective, heartfelt answer.
“Am I that lady now?” she replies with a laugh. “I am proud.”
“I’m proud of myself and I’m finally giving my younger self grace for not being perfect and still being open to learning,” she explains.
Union continues, “And my grandmother lived to be 110 years old, so I got a good 60-plus years to continue to make myself proud.”
Gabrielle Union/Instagram
Union also recently celebrated the birthday of her dad, Sylvester, who lives with dementia and was placed in memory care in 2023. In an Oct. 15 Instagram post, the actress detailed her dad’s special day.
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“It’s my Dad’s 81st birthday and I don’t think I’ve ever been more grateful to be his daughter,” she wrote. “Loving someone is easier when they can communicate, joke, and be affectionate but it’s a blessing to still feel that love and connection when dementia has overtaken him. Almost 🥰.”
Union continued, in part, in the caption, “His eyes lit up when he saw me and [Wade] standing at his bedside. He still chuckles when his grandsons bag on him. He’s still here and that’s enough.”