Comedian and actor Tracy Morgan’s daughter has big dreams, and her father is in support of them. Maven Sonae, 9, wants to one day become a marine biologist, so her famous father said he built her a 20,000 gallon shark tank in their backyard to support her interest.
“There’s 14 or 15 sharks in there, black tips, white tips,” he shared on The Kelly Clarkson Show recently. “She wanted to study, so I put like eight tanks in the house, have the shark tank outside.”
The 53-year-old comedian isn’t taking care of the sharks alone, he’s hired help. His collection of species also isn’t limited to sharks. They have a cone snail from Australia, which he said is “the most dangerous thing on the planet.”
This isn’t the first grand gesture of love and support from the comedian to his daughter. Last year, he shared on The Ellen DeGeneres show that his basement transforms into a haunted house for Maven and her friends every Halloween.
“It’s very scary down there. I don’t go down there,” he admitted. “You got It the clown and his eyes are lighting up and I’m like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa.’ So, I go down every morning to work out in my gym with my trainer, then I’m upstairs.”
Tracy shares his daughter with his ex Megan Wollover who is an actor and producer. They filed split up in 2020 after almost five years of marriage.
Morgan has a special bond with his daughter, and his love for her was reinforced when he almost lost his life in a car accident in 2014. He told Hoda Kotb from the Today show last November, “She’s very close to me. We’re very close. That’s my baby. She’s my greatest co-star ever. Ever,” in relation to the role she played in his former television series The Last O.G.
Kotb followed up by asking why mentioning his daughter’s name evoked so many emotions for him.
“She was 10 months old when I got hit by the truck. So, people don’t just come out of comas — I had to fight. I knew I had to be here for her,” said Morgan. “I wanted to see my daughter. I’ve always wanted a daughter. I have a female version of me, and I’m looking at her every day as she grows under my gaze. And I love her.”