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Audra McDonald may be a five-time Tony Award-winning actress, but her most important role is mother to daughter Zoe.

Indeed, McDonald is using her latest Broadway role as legendary singer Billie Holiday, who famously struggled with drug addiction, as an opportunity to discuss the dangers of drug use with her young daughter.

"My daughter has not seen the show," McDonald, 43, told People magazine. "She knows a bit about Billie Holiday because she's been watching mommy sort of sound like her at home, and freak the dogs out by talking to the dogs like I'm Billie Holiday. What it has done is brought up a platform to discuss drug use, and discuss how much it can ruin your life. And it's never too early to bring up those conversations with your kids. So it's actually been really educational in that respect."

Watch Audra McDonald Perform on 'The View'

The Definitive Guide to Selfie Etiquette

McDonald is also schooling her only child daughter about the hazards of social media.

"I said to her a couple days ago, 'Here's the deal with selfies: they never go away. Do not post them or just be very mindful what you do, because it can never be erased. Even if you erase it from your account, it's out there forever.'"

Added McDonald, who joined Instagram just so she could follow her daughter and see what she was posting, "Our kids today don't have the luck that we had. When we were growing up you could do something stupid and it wouldn't be blasted all over the entire world. That's not the world they live in. I'm just trying to protect her."