Jamie Foxx Tells His Daughters to Not Take the ‘Back Seat’ for Any Guy: ‘Get Your Career, Do Your Thing’

This article was originally published on PEOPLE.

Don’t mess with Jamie Foxx in his leading role as dad to daughters Annalise, 7, and Corinne, 22.

“[I’m] papa bear,” Foxx, 49, said at the premiere of his film Sleepless in Los Angeles on Thursday when asked if he’s protective over his two daughters. “You got to do your thing.”

He explains part of the reasoning behind his protective instincts. “I know there’s guys out there. I used to be on the other side,” he says.

As for what he tells his kids about dating?

“I’m not saying he got to be no softie, I don’t want that,” he says. “But [he can’t be] afraid of you going to get your career. Don’t take no back seat to nobody. If you walk in with somebody that you take a back seat to, I’m going to check you first and then it’s about him.”

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“She takes that with her so that when she does go out and she finds the guy that she’s with now, they understand that and uplift each other,” he explains of his elder daughter Corinne.

Foxx will star alongside both of his daughters in an upcoming film, an experience he treasures.

“My oldest daughter is so seasoned because she has been around it so long. So she just comes and does her thing,” he says. “My younger daughter is so funny. She is doing some stuff in the movie that is just going to steal the show.”

He adds, “It’s great to be able to work with your daughters because I know that they want to be a part of this in some way. When you can work with your daughters, there’s comfort when I tell them, ‘Move here, go here, do that.’ ”