Viola Davis says her daughter wants to be an actress too

Acting seems to run in the family for Viola Davis: She recently revealed that her five-year-old daughter, Genesis, also wants to be an actress when she grows up. But, like any protective mom, the actress has mixed feelings about choosing such a tough career path for her baby girl.

“She says she wants to be an actress,” Viola told E! News. “[She says], “I gotta live the words, I gotta breath the words, I gotta remember the words,’ and I said, ‘Yeah and you also gotta go to school and get out of this house and pay your own rent.’…I just think this is a terrific profession. The work is fantastic, but the lifestyle? Eh. I don’t want to choose that for her at a young age.”

Viola and husband Julius Tennon adopted Genesis in 2011. Viola has been open about growing up in extreme poverty, and didn’t always know she would achieve her dream. It’s not surprising that she wouldn’t want a lifestyle filled with ups and downs for her own child.

“I hoped, I dreamed but I didn’t know,” Viola said to E!. “I just felt like the dreaming and the hoping would be enough and I think for the most part it is. I think that’s what makes you get up in the morning and keeps you working and keeps you excited and in it and passionate and I think it’s the passion that carries you through life.”

Clearly, that passion took Viola far! We know her daughter will succeed with such an inspiring mommy, no matter what she decides to be when she grows up.