Tati Gabrielle’s parents — Her multiethnic upbringing

Tati Gabrielle

Tati Gabrielle’s career has grown in leaps and bounds since her breakout role as Gaia in The 100. Gabrielle had two noteworthy television credits – guest roles in two episodes of K.C. Undercover and The Thundermans – when she secured the part of Gaia in 2017. 

A year later, she joined the main cast of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina as Prudence Blackwood. Gabrielle’s latest appearance is in the Netflix series Kaleidoscope. Tati stands out among the star-studded cast in a drama series you can watch in any order you desire. 

Tati was raised by an African-American father and a Korean-American mom in California

Tati Gabrielle
tatigabrielle/Instagram

Tati Gabrielle was born on 25th January 1996 in San Francisco, California, to Traci Hewwit and Terry Hobson. Traci Hewitt, who was raised by her adoptive family, is Korean-American and Black, while Terry is African-American.

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where race didn’t matter, gave Tati a skewed perspective of America. “I grew up colorblind because I grew up in such a liberal and diverse place, which is a big part of the outlook I have for the world,” Gabrielle told Mochi Magazine

The reality of racial tensions and discrimination hit Tati when she enrolled at Spelman College in Atlanta. Gabrielle explained:

“I went from one of the most liberal states to almost the exact opposite. It was the first time I experienced color and really understood true discrimination. It was a more sheltered version of thinking, and I found that not everybody is so open minded.”

Tati’s parents ensured that she and her siblings kept in touch with their different ethnicities. Thanks to Traci, Tati feels connected with her Korean side. “She wanted to make sure that when we got older, we’d have the desire to seek out that part of our culture,” she said. 

“It’s why I want to go to Korea and I’m trying to learn the language now.” Following a shoot for DAZED Korea in October 2020, Tati expressed her pride in representing her Korean side. Tati told The Wrap that production houses should cast more minorities:

“Art to me is supposed to reflect life and reality. You can’t reflect reality accurately if you refuse to respectfully include the people and stories that make up the majority of our population. That’s the ‘minorities.’ The people of color.”

Tati Gabrielle’s mother pushed her to try out acting

Tati grew up alongside two older siblings, who traumatized her by forcing her to watch It. She explained: “They trapped me down and made me watch the original ‘It.’ I was just traumatized for life from that and stayed away from horror my whole life prior to doing ‘Sabrina.’”

Tati was a self-confessed daddy’s girl who grew further away from her mom during her teens. “I was a bit of a brat,” Gabrielle told Glamour

Despite the rift between Tati and Traci, it was her mom who identified Tati’s acting potential. “I was a big people-watcher as a kid,” Tati said. “My mom says that even when I was really young, I would sit in the grocery cart and just kind of boldly stare at people.”

Tati wanted to become an animator, but her mom pushed her to audition for performing arts in middle school. She continued: “My mom wanted me to audition for theater because she thought I was a drama queen. Serendipitously, I forgot my sketchbook and was only able to audition for drama.”

On 13th May 2019, Tati celebrated her mother, writing on Instagram: “The first superhero I had ever seen. And the greatest one I’ve ever known. I love you mommy.”

Tati dropped out of college to pursue acting, and the move worked out. Tati is a vocal actor who doesn’t hesitate to offer her opinion. She told Elle that she guided the showrunners of You about how her character, a Black woman, would respond to various situations. 

Tati told Yahoo that her mission is to create projects that celebrate Black people: “I want to be able to show Black women and Black people in a light that says that no, we can, we do, and we should celebrate.”

Tati said that her family helped her escape a toxic relationship

Tati’s experience with an abusive partner helped her better portray Marienne, who has a toxic ex-partner, in You. Gabrielle said she needed her family to pull her out of the relationship.

“My loved ones literally had to pull me out,” Tati told Glamour. “And I’m so grateful and I thank God for them, because it was a rough time.”