‘Truth Be Told’ Hits A Little Close To Home For Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Union has joined Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer in the AppleTV+ series Truth Be Told as it makes its Season 3 debut on the streamer today, Jan. 20.
For the third season, Spencer reprises her role as investigative reporter turned true crime podcaster, Poppy Scoville, to take on a new case that has her frustrated by the lack of media attention for several young missing Black girls, according to the official press release.
In an interview with BET.com, Spencer discusses the importance of tackling such an important topic. At the same time, Union shares the significance of her role in the series as it relates to her real life as a survivor of sexual violence.
“I feel that it's our best season yet because we are grappling with something real something sadly tactile we know a lot of people are dealing with this issue. It was only logical that we deal with real-world issues and we jumped in headfirst,” Spencer shared, revealing that she sent Union a personal invite to consider the role.
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“I am glad that Gabrielle said yes because I texted her that we were coming and just so that she could be prepared to say yes or no. But I wanted her to have all the information so that she could decide for herself whether or not she wanted to be a part of telling his story. And I can tell you that I'm so glad that she did.”
To which Union quickly chimed in, “I’m glad she reached out. Her Rolodex is long, I’m happy I got in there.”
Union’s character Eva, an unorthodox principal, joins Spencer’s Scoville to keep the victims' names in the public eye while chasing down leads to a suspected sex trafficking ring that may have ensnared them, the release notes.
“That’s part of the reason I felt like I was the best person for this job and to have this conversation from a first-person account,” Union said. “I was a Black teen experiencing sexual violence in the Bay Area so it was immediate, it was personal.”
The actress has previously publicly shared that when she was 19 and working a summer job at a retail store, she was raped at gunpoint during a robbery at the store.
“I know that danger isn’t far away and we have to have people who are willing to scream it from the rooftops.”
Truth Be Told also stars series regulars Mekhi Phifer, David Lyons, Ron Cephas Jones, Merle Dandridge, Tracie Thoms, Haneefah Wood, Mychala Faith Lee and Tami Roman.
The first episode of Season three is currently streaming with new episodes weekly every Friday through March 24, 2023, on Apple TV+.
Watch the trailer below:
