By E.C. GLADSTONE , Photographs: ROBERTO D'ESTE

f you happen to see Gabrielle Union on the street, there are good and bad ways of trying to get her attention. Examples of a bad way would be to address her with the name of any of several R&B singers for whom she is often mistaken--Ashanti, Brandy, even Beyoncé.

"People have yelled at me, thinking I'm rude for not responding," she says. A better tactic would be to acknowledge her current number on Maxim's Hot 100 list--67 as of last year, though she has been higher ("Do I need to submit an essay?" she wonders). But perhaps best is to call out, "Nikki!"

"Anyone who has known me for a long time calls me Nikki," Union says, explaining the name comes from her middle name (Monique) and the fact that her grandfather had difficulties pronouncing Gabrielle. "It has just been Nikki, literally since birth. I answer a lot faster." And if you think you saw the actress on Robertson Boulevard, the West L.A. thoroughfare with trendy boutiques and paparazzimagnet restaurants like the Ivy--it probably wasn't her.

"You don't go on Robertson unless you're having a bad day or you've lost a lot of weight," says Union, revealing something of an industry secret. "[Or] I've had a crisis and I need to show that I'm happy and well adjusted. But a lot of psychologists are on Robertson, so some people can't help it. My marriage counselor was on Robertson. 'I'm here to show off my new boobs--there's nothing wrong with my marriage.' "

Instead, Gabrielle has chosen to meet at a nice but nondescript sushi restaurant in Woodland Hills, the bedroom community in L.A.'s West San Fernando Valley that Union calls home (hers is actually just up the street). There is no fear of the waitress here being an aspiring actress or screenwriter. In fact, ours barely speaks English.

Union is clearly more relaxed than she would have been on the other side of the hill--even on the subject of her marriage to former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Chris Howard, which ended in 2006. "If it was a bad divorce it would be different," she says. "We never had attorneys. Everyone's like, 'You're a little too happy, maybe you should seem more somber.' I feel almost bad! It helps that my ex-husband and I are best friends. I talk to him every day."

Gabrielle takes her fair share of the blame for the split, attributing it more to her career than anything else. "It's not about, Do I love you or not? It's, Am I even home enough? And when you're home, you're studying for auditions, preparing for meetings, preparing for work. Or you're at work and you're gone for 19 hours a day."

With a substantial variety of television and film roles on her resume, Union has built a career many actors would envy. Her latest films include The Box, an indie crime drama in which she plays a tough detective, and Starship Dave, a sci-fi comedy. While Gabrielle candidly says it points more to the fact that she "can't really be choosy" rather than any artistic urge, she is selective about projects, just not in the way that most actors would be ...

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