Michael Tran/FilmMagic

Christina Applegate is many things — including an Emmy-winning actress, a cancer survivor and a philanthropist.

But there’s another side of the Anchorman star that nobody knew about … until now!

According to the actress, she’s a total dance mom to her 3½-year-old ballet dancer, daughter Sadie Grace.

“Sometimes I’ll find myself watching her in class, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, you’re so being a dance mom,’ ” Applegate, 42, told PEOPLE at the Fourth Annual Celebration of Dance Gala presented by The Dizzy Feet Foundation on Sunday.

“I’m sitting [there] in my head going, ‘Why isn’t she pointing her foot that way?! Someone needs to go in there and fix her foot!’”

Applegate, who can no longer dance herself because of injuries — but still occasionally guest-judges on So You Think You Can Dance, grew up with an extreme passion for the sport.

“It was my secret thing I did that nobody knew I did,” Applegate shares. “I could go to classes and not have anyone bother me. And I did it for years up until I got pregnant with my daughter.”

As soon as Sadie was born, the new mom knew she wanted to pass her love of dance on to her little girl.

“I now have to live vicariously through my daughter,” says Applegate. “I watch her and help her speak through her body — channel her emotions and her joy through her body. [I help her] get grounded, get all that stuff out.”

However, there is a fine line and even Applegate realizes she has been known to occasionally cross it.

“I was stretching her point today. I was like, ‘Let me stretch your point a little bit, Sades. Not for any particular reason — just giving you a little massage.’ I tricked her!” she admits.

– Matthew Cole Weiss

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