Union and Key pitch a show while promoting Casamigos

Gabrielle Union and Keegan-Michael Key say they want to create something together—then pivot to their Casamigos World Cup campaign, where they compare summer plans, sports obsessions, and the kind of grudges that don’t fade.

It starts as a joke about wanting their own show. It ends, at least for now, with two actors doing what they do best: riffing in the moment.

Gabrielle Union and Keegan-Michael Key are inside Casamigos’ World Cup campaign space at MetLife—where the New York New Jersey Stadium setting feels like the natural backdrop for their easy chemistry—and they talk through summer plans. sports fandom. and the kinds of grudges people can’t seem to shake. Watching them trade lines, it’s hard to believe they haven’t worked together on a film or TV project.

They’ve shared the stage before. The duo presented an award together at the 2016 NAACP Image Awards, and Key remembers it as an on-camera improv exercise. “I walked up to her, and she goes, ‘You want to do a bit?’” Key says. “I’m like, ‘Oh, hell yeah.’” Union adds, “We have to do something [together]. We have to be like a married couple that’s dysfunctional.”.

Between waiting for or developing a project, they’re teaming up for a new campaign promoting Casamigos’ line of premixed margaritas—an effort built around the World Cup. The brand’s summer message is clear: “Rivals at the game, Casamigos at the bar.”

Union plans a quieter kind of getaway. She says she and husband Dwayne Wade will spend this summer on “the quieter part” of Long Island. specifically the North Fork. Unlike the Hamptons. Union points to the area’s food and wine scene rather than celebrity spillover. and she says the couple reportedly purchased their home there in 2024. “We love it,” Union says. “My husband has become the mayor of the North Fork.”.

Key’s summer looks busier on paper, but he’s still carving out time. For most of the summer, he’s filming “Romy & Michele Get Married,” the sequel to the 1997 cult classic. Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino reprise their roles for the film. Key says he hopes to spend some of August at home with wife Elle. When he talks about what keeps him grounded between takes, soccer fandom quickly becomes the thread that ties everything together.

“I can already tell you it’s going to be like an issue for me while I’m filming this movie. ” he says. about his soccer obsession. Key is a huge sports fan—he names the NFL’s Detroit Lions and Liverpool FC in the English Premier League—but he’s all in on the World Cup. For him, it’s less like a distraction and more like a ritual. “The best part is that at least it’ll be in the time zone [I’m in] and then later in the day. I can at least go home and watch like a 30-minute version. ” Key says. “I’m going to try to watch the highlights for every single match.”.

Sports talk has become something of a professional skill for both actors. They say they’ve grown accustomed to explaining sports to other entertainers—whether it’s the storylines of the NBA Finals or what “offsides” means in soccer, something Union says she knows from playing in college.

Key also says he’s picked up cricket in a way that has surprised his friends. leading to a whole new set of questions. “I’m the only American on God’s green earth who knows what the hell is going on in cricket. ” he jokes. “You’re saying actors are artsy people, so they don’t know how football or basketball works. No, I’m talking about a sport [where] nobody knows how it works. So I have to explain it to everybody.”.

If the campaign theme is friendly competition—rivals finding common ground at the bar—Union and Key don’t pretend real conflict is something they handle casually.

Key is blunt about his approach to interpersonal friction. “I absolutely hate conflict,” he admits. “I’m probably nice to people I shouldn’t be nice to. Especially at work, I try to keep it as low-key as possible.”

Union’s tone is different. When Key laughs, she doesn’t downplay it. “My personal ones that I have initiated, those are going to come with me to the grave,” Union says. “Because if I felt strongly enough to have some kind of beef with you, that beef is full life. That is forever.”

Casamigos, the tequila brand at the center of the conversation, was acquired by global alcoholic beverage company Diageo in 2017. The brand is co-founded by a group that includes George Clooney.

All of it—the sports talk. the summer logistics. the improv history—lands in the same place: two performers who agree they should work together. even as they keep showing up separately in their own ways. For now. the shared stage is a campaign suite. and the real question hanging in the air is what they’ll decide to build next.

Gabrielle Union Keegan-Michael Key Casamigos World Cup campaign premixed margaritas Diageo MetLife North Fork Dwayne Wade Detroit Lions Liverpool FC cricket grudges