Kenya Moore on the future of ‘Real Housewives’ and her family

Kenya Moore, the 53-year-old actress, entrepreneur and "Real Housewife of Atlanta" star, talks to TODAY.com about her new role in a Lifetime movie ... and her best-loved role as mom to 5-year-old Brooklyn.

In "Abducted Off the Streets: The Carlesha Gaither Story," Moore portrays Keisha Gaithers, a mother who is determined to find her missing daughter at any cost. In this true story, Carlesha outsmarts her predator by leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for investigators to find while her mother demands attention on the case from the public and investigators.

"It takes a mom to know what a mom would do," Moore tells TODAY.com about her character.

When she first read the script, she had to put it down because it was "too close" to her own experience as a mother, she says. "It's invoking my biggest fear — something happening to your children."

To keep her daughter Brooklyn safe, Moore says she's teaching her to be "situationally aware," even at her young age. "I parent that way naturally," she says. "I've been teaching my child how to fight, how to not touch guns, how to hide if there's danger, what to do if she's lost, how to use a cell phone — and how to remain calm."

After a pause, Moore says, laughing, "And she also knows how to fight."

Moore taught her daughter how to defend herself if someone is trying to harm her. "She loves practicing on me. She gets a kick out of it. But she's a feisty little thing when you're trying to fight her. It's funny," she says proudly.

Moore tries to be extremely close to her daughter, even with her busy work schedule. If she has to travel for a week or more, Brooklyn comes along. While Moore filmed this movie in Canada, for example, she brought Brooklyn and her au pair for the duration.

"It was pretty much like a normal scenario," Moore explains. "I had my hours of work. I knew where (Brooklyn would) be every day. I had the luxury sometimes of being able to drop her off at school or pick her up, and it just worked out really well," she says, noting that they followed a similar schedule while she was filming "Dancing with the Stars."

Moore and Brooklyn's father, Mark Daly, are divorced. Moore says that Brooklyn is still a little too young to understand the situation.

"She knows she misses her dad, and they do talk regularly, but physically they don't really see each other. She is just at the age that she doesn't know the difference," Moore says. "For her, it's always been like that. As she gets older, she's going to have a lot of questions about the way her dad parents."

Brooklyn has been vocal about wanting a baby brother or sister. Moore says she started learning bout adoption and "figuring it all out," but then decided to put that idea on hold.

"I waited to have my child, and the reason I waited to have my child being married is so that I could have a two-parent home. And in my mind, that's a complete family. At least you start that way," she explains. "At least, that's my vision. That's my dream."

Moore is not abandoning her dream, though. "Listen," she says, "marriage is still not out of the question, and hopefully I can still meet someone that also may want additional children, or we could become a blended family. You just never know what God has in store."

Speaking of future plans, Moore says that producers of "Real Housewives of Atlanta" are working hard to find the right cast with the right chemistry for the next season. Kandi Burress announced her departure from the show on Sunday, and hours after TODAY.com spoke with Moore, she and Porsha Williams were rumored to have secured their return to the well-loved reality show.

"I'm just going to have faith in the producers that they're going to make the right choices for Season 16," Moore concludes.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com