We had a chat with the chirpy newbie and it became obvious why Disney chose her for the role
Text and photos by Pamela Chow
Sporting a Vanda Miss Joaquim in her hair and an appropriately tropical dress, voice actress Auli'i Cravalho speaks with confident, contagious yet innocent enthusiasm. It's hard to believe that she's only 15 years old, and that this is her first stint ever - and with Disney, no less.
Cravalho voices the titular character Moana, a fiesty teenage Polynesian who ventures across the ocean to find the demigod Maui (voiced by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). Cravalho - who is born and raised in Hawaii - is now in town to promote the film, which releases here on 24 Nov.
We speak to the starlet about debuting with one of the biggest animation studios in the world.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BI0O0PjgBio/?taken-by=auliicravalho&hl=en
How was it like to work with Dwayne Johnson?
I loved working with Dwayne. He and I had a lot of fun on set… He and I connected [having] both grown up in Hawaii and having that “Aloha spirit”. I learned a lot from him, seeing how he worked and how focused he was on this project and everything else around him. He’s the busiest man in Hollywood but he’s still very kind.
[He] spoke to me over and over about being myself… I needed to understand that and have that repeated to me. It’s something that we may hear all the time, but there’s no advice that can help us more than that. We don’t need to be anybody else but who we really are.
It seems like being in this film had a profound impact on you.
This year has been a growing year for me, because I’m travelling and learning so much through the journey of Moana, and also because I’m getting a little older. I’m a junior [in high school] now and trying to figure out what I’m going to for the rest of my life. That’s something I feel quite a bit of pressure on.
I now believe in going out on a limb, believing in myself and pursuing things that I didn’t think I was right for but that I truly am. Like this role!
Photo: Hugh E Gentry. ©2015 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
This is your very first film. What challenges did you face?
Yes, this is my first ever film, besides backyard plays that I put on for my mom. [Laughs] I had challenges, but it was mostly just in figuring out what to do in the recording booth. I’m [used to being] able to bounce off real-life people in front of me, but when you only have a mic, some glass and the director on the other side, it’s a little different.
But I found relief in my character, so when I didn’t know what to do, at least I knew exactly how the character was feeling and how to play her.
What kind of acting or singing did you do before this?
I was in my school’s choir and I sang at church, but besides that, it was just my voice. I didn’t have anyone to teach me, I just felt it along the way.
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