Paris Jackson: I Want to Be Just Like Dad

In a poignant interview airing today on Ellen, Paris Jackson says that dad Michael once told her, “If I die tomorrow, always remember what I told you.” And, she says, “I took his advice and I remembered everything he told me.” She also related how he influenced her to pursue an acting career, E! reports. “My dad was in the movie Moonwalker and I knew he could sing really well, but I didn't know he could act. I saw that and I said, ‘Wow, I want to be just like him,’” she says.

He helped her start down that path: “We would do improv together. He would give us little scenarios. He would say, ‘OK, in this scene, you're going to cry,’ and I'd cry on the spot,” she says. Paris also recalls that growing up, she thought wearing a mask all the time was “stupid.” But as she got older, she began to realize her father “only tried to protect us,” she says. And, the Telegraph notes, it helped her later: “I do have like a regular childhood,” she says. “I mean, I'm treated the same. When I came to Buckley [school] they didn't know who I was. I was like, yes, I have a chance to be normal." (More Paris Michael Jackson stories.)