Aulii Cravalho

She idolizes legendary yesteryear British actor, model, dancer, and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn and often follows her style of fashion.

After finishing high school, she wants to take up law or any subject associated with biology.

Auliʻi is fond of swimming, paddling the canoe, surfing, and playing water polo.

Auliʻi was born on November 22, 2000, in the small town of Kohala in Hawaii, US. She has a blend of Chinese, Native Hawaiian, Irish, Portuguese, and Puerto Rican origins.

When she was just 5 years of age, she started dancing hula. She lived with her mother, Puanani Cravalho, an administrative assistant, in Mililani, Hawaii. She was in her freshman year of high school at the Kapālama campus of the ‘Kamehameha Schools’ when she landed up with the role of ‘Moana.’ She performed as a soprano in the glee club of the school.

According to Auliʻi, she did not go for audition of the role of ‘Moana’ initially, as huge volumes of submissions were already made by hundreds of girls, over ‘YouTube.’ Nevertheless, she was spotted by an Oahu talent agent during a charity competition, and the agent ultimately convinced her to go for the audition.

The filmmakers took auditions of hundreds of candidates from across the Pacific Islands and then finalized Auliʻi for the role. According to ‘The Walt Disney Company,’ she was the last girl to audition for the role.

Director John Musker is said to have mentioned during the casting press release of the film that Auliʻi’s display of fearlessness during the auditions led her to garner the role. According to him, she also shares certain qualities with ‘Moana.’ The cast was announced on social media by Dwayne Johnson, who lent his voice to the legendary shape-shifting demigod ‘Maui’ in the same film.

Although ‘Moana's face and personality had already been chalked out, the ‘Disney’ animators integrated certain mannerisms of Auliʻi in ‘Moana's behavior. The physical resemblance that she bore with the character was a sheer coincidence though.

Auliʻi, who wanted to be a ‘Disney’ princess since her childhood, was elated to play the role of ‘Moana,’ the sixteen-year-old daughter of village chief ‘Tui’ and his wife, ‘Sina.’