I wouldn’t be able to pick Matthew Lawrence out of a line-up, even though he’s been acting since he was a kid. He’s arguably famous for Boy Meets World, Mrs. Doubtfire and being Joey Lawrence’s brother. Back in the 1990s, he was cast in a TV movie alongside Gabrielle Union. He would have been around 19 years old, and Gabrielle would have been in her mid-20s. Apparently, she asked him if they could rehearse their lines and he said “nope” and so she “reported” him to the director or whatever. This is the story he’s telling this week and it’s getting a lot of attention.
Matthew Lawrence recently said on the “Magical Rewind” podcast that the only time he got into trouble on a film or television set was when Gabrielle Union allegedly reported him. According to Lawrence, the incident occurred after he declined Union’s offer to rehearse their lines together on the set of their 1999 TV movie “H-E Double Hockey Sticks.” Lawrence starred in the film as a hockey player who becomes the target of a young devil, played by podcast co-host Will Friedle.
“There was this one moment where — and, again, I’m oblivious, I had no idea — and [Gabrielle] wanted to rehearse. And I was like, ‘No, I’m good,’” Lawrence remembered (via Entertainment Weekly). “And she got angry and went and reported me to the director and the studio. The only time in my entire career, because usually I’m, like, the advocate, and I’m fighting for kids and, like, you know, women’s rights. This is the only time in my life when I was called into the office for something I did on set. And I had no clue.”
Lawrence explained that he declined Union’s request to rehearse their lines together because he wanted the scene to feel as fresh as possible when the time came to shoot it. He no longer thinks that way as an actor.
“At that point, in my mind — now I can do whatever, and nothing’s gonna faze me — [but] at that point in my mind, I really loved memorizing the lines, knowing all the beats,” Lawrence said, “but hated running it, cause it felt like it took all the freshness out of it.”
“H-E Double Hockey Sticks” aired on ABC in October 1999 as part of “The Wonderful World of Disney” series. It was the same year that Union starred in the popular teen comedies “10 Things I Hate About You” and “She’s All That.” Lawrence said that everybody on the set of their TV movie knew Union would go on to be a star.
What’s funny is that Gabrielle was probably so annoyed with this guy. She didn’t want to deal with his nonsense, so she went to whoever was in charge and she was like “you deal with this because he’s on my last nerve.” Again, this was the ‘90s! It was a TV movie! She was standing up for herself in a time when most actresses would have felt like they just had to “get over it” when a costar wouldn’t rehearse with them. Anyway, Team Gabrielle.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Joey Lawrence, Andrew Lawrence, Matthew Lawrence at the 2017 iHeart Music Awards, The Forum, Los Angeles, CA 03-05-17,Image: 525807245, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Martin Sloan/Avalon
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- Matthew Lawrence, Joe Lawrence, Andrew Lawrence at the 100th DCOM Adventures In Babysitting LA Premiere Screening, Directors Guild of America, Los Angeles, CA 06-23-16 .com 818-249-4998,Image: 531736367, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Martin Sloan/Avalon
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- GABRIELLE UNION ARRIVING AT THE SAVOY MAGAZINE GALA. ASTRA WEST, WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA. 21 MARCH 2003. PICTURES. / UWIL.,Image: 547264192, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Michael Williams/Avalon
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- Gabrielle Union at the In Vogue: The 1990s UK Premiere in London, United Kingdom on 16 September 2024.,Image: 908525255, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley/Avalon
Too bad he didn’t communicate to Union back in the day his process versus what he did in real time…cause that “No…I’m good…” woulda lit a 🔥 under me too!🤪
#ThisIsMyCareerNotPlayPlay
BW don’t have the luxury of being unprepared and mediocre. I’m reminded of that actor on actor segment with Colman Domingo and Keiren Culkin. Keiren practically bragged about being late to set and being unprepared and was “amazed” at Colman showing up on time and being ready.
Sounds like Keiren needs to learn some manners and that other people’s time has value also.
Thank you. I am not a black woman so I appreciate the perspective. I do watch actors and can verify the Lawrence Brothers DEFINE mediocre
i completely agree that people of color, and especially women of color, are held to a much higher standard and that little boys like this one get to do whatever they want with no consequences. He did not even stop to think about being professional or what his coworker might want or need.
And apparently he has learned that moaning about a woman of color pays off in terms of attention. Is he looking for a job with the hallmark channel or whatever is the worse version of that??
@josephine – is he looking for a job at the Hallmark Channel! Perfect! Exactly this.
So did he explain his thought process like that to her then, or did he just say no I’m good and come across like an entitled child actor who thought they were too good to rehearse with the newbie?
I know there are still a lot of actors who like to be ” method” and all that as adults and I have my thoughts, but if you communicate that to your co star in the beginning they can adjust how they are going to work with you. Saying that the way he most likely said it just makes you seem arrogant and would annoy me too if I had to work with you.
I’m not seeing it as that big of a deal that he said “Nope” and she reported it. It’s unfortunate if he only said no with no explanation but it wasn’t as if he degraded her or said it cruelly. He seems as if it was just a straight forward no, which he had every right to do, it would have been better if there was some show of curtesy in what he said, but he was a 19 year old male celebrity who was having some success and attention from his own work and especially his older brothers work. I hope that Gabrielle Union didn’t feel degraded or uncomfortable with his comment and only mentioned that he didn’t want to run lines with her in passing and not to be mean or cause trouble for him. They both seem like decent people and they were both young. On a side note, I love his relationship with Chili from TLC. She brings out a more relaxed and fun side of him.
What????
Yes, he’s been dating Chili since 2022 and was formerly married to Cheryl Burke from Dancing with the Stars.
I’m very conscious we are hearing HIS retelling of the story, from a place of grievance (otherwise, why tell it in 2025?), so it would be fully expected that his telling would make it seem like anything he said or did was NBD and she overreacted. It may not even be malicious, that may be how he remembers it, but I suspect and guarantee Union would remember it differently (especially considering how often black women, particularly at that time, opt to grin and bear things vs. report them due to the blowback risk).
One side of the story and not a lot of context. Did she turn him in or maybe the director was the one who suggested rehearsal with the co-star.
I thought the same thing – and when he said no, she went back to the director and was like “he said no and won’t do it.”
Either way, her telling the director her coworker didn’t want to work on their project was reasonable. I don’t know why this guy is bringing this up ages later.
Because she went on to be a much bigger star than him while he is known for his brother (then) and dating Chili (now).
The word “report” here is doing a LOT of heavy lifting.
Of course he’s going to tell the story to make himself look good and her bad. Why did he even bring this up years later? Not cool.
Lawrence goes on to compliment Gabrielle and is happy for her success. I took this as “I was young and dumb and l realize I missed something back then.”
Same. He’s saying he was offered her time and was too young & dumb to accept it.
My guess is she “reported him” because she knew if they looked unprepared or like they didn’t know what they were doing, it would be blamed on her. So she wanted to rehearse to be prepared but also went to the director to cover herself.
I don’t think he’s saying that he thinks she was wrong NOW, but at the time he probably did. but now it seems he understands why she wanted to rehearse and he seems to be a fan.
Never heard of this person before. Won’t remember him tomorrow.
Now the flawless Gabrielle Union, I know her. Imagine being so pathetic and desperate for Shine Time that you invoke her the name of a someone who is in the news for her good works AND her good work, while you haven’t been heard from in decades.
This just reminds me of when you had to do a group project in college and one person didn’t do their work, so you had to let the professor know so they didn’t give the group members who did do their work a low grade. I think that’s all Gabrielle was doing, here.
@Suzanne Perfect analogy. I’ll be nice and choose to take this story as him sharing a moment of growth, because yes it absolutely reminds me of the group project dynamic where you have one person who is coasting and thinks they can wing it, and another person who has put a ton of legwork and wants to practice because they know things don’t always just works out. As someone who didn’t have the luxury of winging things, I also got labeled uptight and once even a B-word when I held team members accountable for their lackadaisical attitudes, which I resented because you have no control over the people you work with yet your success or failure can be predicated on their performance, which is grossly unfair. So of course it creates tension. The fact that he is reflecting in this way hopefully means he recognizes there was nothing wrong with her perspective and being held accountable. Once you realize people don’t always move the way you do (whether by personality/disposition or simply because they don’t have the luxury) you can recognize that they’re not always the problem, and adjust and adapt accordingly if you have enough self-awareness to do so.