“He’s been my Favorite actor” - Dannielynn Smith reveals how Hugh Jackman inspired her to pursue acting

Dannielynn Smith, 18, attended the 2025 Kentucky Derby with her dad, Larry Birkhead, in Louisville on May 3, 2025. Anna Nicole Smith, her late mother, and Larry had her on September 7, 2006, in Nassau.

In a conversation with E! News on Saturday, she expressed her appreciation for Hugh Jackman and reflected on how he is her inspiration. Recounting her memory of meeting the Logan star, Smith shared that they interacted after his Broadway play, From New York With Love.

During her conversation with the outlet, Dannielynn Smith recalled meeting her "favorite actor" and shared,

"I watch a lot of his movies for comfort, so that kind of translated to real life. He's been my favorite actor for 10 years. I don't know how I survived [meeting him]."

Everything we know about Dannielynn Smith's plans to pursue acting

The 18-year-old is excited to follow in her mother's footsteps and step into the entertainment industry professionally. During her appearance at the high-profile event, she chimed in,

"I'm definitely looking forward to modeling and acting. I've just gotten inspired by a lot of my favorite actors and actresses."

That being said, Dannielynn Smith is not compromising with education to achieve her goals, to be a model and an actress. While sharing her dreams, she also spoke about her interest in forensics.

She explained,

"I have a college that I'm going to apply to. I'm interested in forensics, but of course, I would like to do modeling and acting on the side."

Being a father, Larry is understanding and encouraging of his daughter. He is protective and guides her daughter in her decision-making.

"When she says she wants to do these things, I'm going to be supportive of it, but I give her some cautionary tales of things that I encountered, her mom encountered, and so I think we put that altogether and give her the support, and we'll see what happens."

Dannielynn Smith wore her mother's dress and jewelry at the 2025 Kentucky Derby

Smith grabbed the spotlight at the prestigious event wearing one of her mom's beautiful black dresses.

She flaunted the late model's dress, which "she wore 21 years ago, "at the Barnstable-Brown Gala.

Sharing sneak peeks of the gala on Instagram, Larry wrote in the caption,

"Kicking off @kentuckyderby weekend with Dannielynn. First up, The Barnstable-Brown Gala. Dannielynn is wearing Anna Nicole’s dress that she wore 21 years ago to this same event. Life full circle. She said she chose the dress because it was her Mom’s and 'super cool.'"

Next, the loving father-daughter duo continued their eventful weekend, heading for the Kentucky Derby races. For this event, Dannielynn completed her look with jewelry from her mother's archive.

Ahead of the races, Dannielynn Smith and Larry Birkhead posed in their classy looks, and the latter shared snippets the precious moments with his daughter on Instagram. He penned,

"Continuing the @kentuckyderby weekend tradition going strong. We are recovering from a rockin’ good time at last nights Barnstable-Brown Gala. Now, off to the races with Dannielynn! She made me cut my hair with @hairbyryanaustin because before that she said I looked like a low-rent Keith Urban!Ouch 😣"