Tika Sumpter Reveals Her 8-Year-Old Daughter Taught Her Everything She Needed to Know for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Exclusive)

Tika Sumpter learned from the best when preparing for her role as Sonic’s mom, Maddie Wachowski, in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

On Monday, Dec. 16, the actress, 44, chatted with PEOPLE during the Los Angeles premiere of the animated film held at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

Asked if her daughter, Ella-Loren, has seen the new movie, Sumpter revealed the 8-year-old has done so much more than just sit back and watch the adaptation.

“First of all, my daughter teaches me,” the mom of one tells PEOPLE. “She knows more about Sonic than I do and everybody else does.”

Sumpter shares Ella-Loren with her husband Nicholas James. In August, Sumpter opened up to PEOPLE about how the couple discusses race and identity with their mixed-race daughter.

“We’re already talking to Ella about race,” Sumpter told PEOPLE. “Nick actually went to the library the other day and got a bunch of books on Pharaoh and Africa, and then one on civil rights. He’s reading this civil rights book out loud and he’s like, ‘This is infuriating!’ And Ella can’t even imagine that time. She’s like, ‘How could people do such a thing?’ ”

Says Sumpter, “You don’t want to scare her, but you want to inform her in a way that is age-appropriate.”

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 premieres in theaters on Friday, Dec. 20.