“I just want people to know that I love my mom, and she’s so beautiful, but I’m also my own person,” she said of the late model-actress at a gala on Friday.

Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, debuts bold new look at Kentucky Derby: ‘I feel like a vampire’

"I just want people to know that I love my mom, and she's so beautiful, but I'm also my own person," she said of the late model-actress at a gala on Friday.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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on May 2, 2026 3:21 p.m. ET

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Dannielynn Birkhead and Larry Birkhead at the 2026 Kentucky Derby. Credit:

Stephen J. Cohen/Getty

- Dannielynn Birkhead debuted a bold platinum haircut with black tips at a Kentucky Derby gala on Friday.

- The daughter of the late model-actress Anna Nicole Smith said she wanted the look to evoke *Interview With the Vampire*.

- "I just want people to know that I love my mom, and she's so beautiful, but I'm also my own person," she said.

Dannielynn Birkhead is switching up her style.

The daughter of the late Anna Nicole Smith and Larry Birkhead debuted a short platinum haircut with black tips at the Barnstable Brown Gala in Louisville, Ky., on Friday, the night before the Kentucky Derby.

"I feel like a vampire," she told *Access Hollywood* on Friday, "which is the goal every day."

When asked which kind of vampire, she replied, "Like *Interview With the Vampire *— modern-ish."

Dannielynn Birkhead in Louisville, Ky., on May 1, 2026.

Stephen J. Cohen/Getty

Birkhead also told PEOPLE that comparisons to her late mother "always make me feel good, because I love my mom." However, she clarified that she doesn't want to be defined by her.

"She's super pretty, and I like being compared to her in the sense of like, 'Oh, I'm pretty too,'" she said. "But I also like being known as my own person. Because it's always like, 'Anna Nicole Smith's daughter,' and never just Dannielynn. So I'm hoping my look right now will kind of help with that in a way."

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Birkhead expressed similar sentiments to *Access Hollywood.* "I just want people to know that I love my mom, and she's so beautiful, but I'm also my own person, obviously," she said. "And I hope that's a bit more clear now."

She also explained that her new 'do reflects how her worldview has changed since beginning college. "I learned to just be myself and not let anything stop me," she said. "Someone's like, 'Hey, you actually can't do your hair like that.' Who cares! I'm doing it. I'm not gonna let someone dictate what I wanna do or who I wanna be, because life is short, and I think you should be who you wanna be, no matter what."

Birkhead added, "I probably feel the most confident and happy and like myself I've ever felt right now."

Birkhead's photographer father also addressed his daughter's new look in an interview with PEOPLE. "This year is a different style for Dannielynn," he said. "People [are] always looking for her to wear something of her mom. And she's done that a couple times, but this is kind of Dannielynn showing off her own sense of style, and she said it's a goth rock theme."

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He also noted that his daughter selected his rhinestone-studded lightning bolt jacket for the event. "She said I needed to up my fashion game. That I had no sense of style," he said. "And so she was determined to pick my outfit out."

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