Dame Emma Thompson has hilariously revealed that she’s subtly trying to dissuade her daughter Gaia from acting.
The Love Actually star, 63, who shares the 22-year-old drama student with fellow actor Greg Wise, 56, joked she had hinted her offspring could “run a restaurant” instead.
She told the Chron’s Eden Confidential: “I keep saying, ‘I know you love acting, but maybe running a restaurant can be just as exciting.’
“I keep saying that running a restaurant can be just as exciting!” Emma Thompson (pictured in June 2022) has hilariously revealed that she has been trying to talk her daughter Gaia Wise, 22, away from acting
Emma added of the talented chef, “There’s something very theatrical about restaurants — when you do it right, you feel so fortunate and lucky to be a part of it.”
Despite the Oscar winner’s other ideas, Gaia followed in her mother’s footsteps when she made her TV debut in the latest series of BBC drama Silent Witness.
With her sweet smile and cropped dark hair, Dame Emma’s daughter looked every inch a mini-me.
In the series, Gaia plays college student Jo Reynolds, whose mother, the controversial health secretary, is murdered – which sparks the interest of coroners.
Other ideas: The Love Actually star, 63, (left) joked she dropped hints that her descendants (right) could “run a restaurant” instead (pictured in 2021)
Earlier this year, Chron’s Gaia Richard Eden revealed she’s ready to follow her mother’s lead and strip naked on screen.
Dame Emma recently bared it all in her latest film – Good Luck To You, Leo Grande.
Gaia said, “If it’s professionally prepared and you have the right kind of protection around you, then that’s absolutely fine.”
It comes after Gaia detailed her three-year battle with anorexia – and credited her parents with saving her life by staging an emergency intervention.
Career: Despite the Oscar winner’s other ideas, Gaia followed in her mother’s footsteps when she made her TV debut in the latest series of BBC drama Silent Witness (pictured July 2022).
The aspiring actress developed anorexia at the age of 16, which left her so thin she couldn’t even sit in a chair without feeling pain. She was later admitted to rehab in 2017.
Speaking to The Sun for the first time on Sunday about her illness, she said: “Anorexia makes you really good at gaslighting people so it sounds like they’re crazy.
“My parents used to say, ‘Gaia, we heard you worked out at 3 a.m.’ And I would say, ‘No you didn’t, it was just the move. I was sleeping.’
Anorexia is a serious mental illness in which a person restricts their food intake, often resulting in severe underweight. Many also exercise excessively.
Twins: Dame Emma’s daughter looked every inch a mini-me (Emma in the TV comedy series There’s Nothing To Worry About in 1982 and Gaia in Silent Witness
Gaia spoke about how Greg, Emma and their family, including brother Tindy, 36, and their best friend, gathered for an intervention, with Gaia agreeing to a three-month stint in rehab after Greg said, “I don’t know where my child is is is no more.’
Adding that it was a “kick in the face,” she added, “I had to listen to the people in the world I loved the most, who I really forgot at the time, tell me what I was doing.”
She said: “So I said I was going to rehab. I left on December 29, 2017 and stayed for three months. I’ve had a lot of therapy since then – and I’ll always be grateful for that because it saved my life.”
Support: The aspiring actress has also opened up about her battle with anorexia, which left her so skinny she couldn’t even sit in a chair (pictured with her parents in September 2021)