It didn’t take Disney long to cast Catherine Laga’aia as the live-action Moana. The 19-year-old Samoan-Australian actor will play the titular lead in the upcoming remake.
How 1 audition convinced the filmmakers they had found the perfect live-action Moana
Catherine Laga’aia beat more than 32,000 hopefuls to play Moana in Disney’s live-action remake. In an interview with People, director Thomas Kail said he recognized she was right for the role within “about 10 seconds” of meeting her. Laga’aia previously starred in the 2023 TV series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. Moana will mark her first lead acting role in a feature film.
“She’s something special,” said Kail, praising Laga’aia. “I would say to her, ‘If you can do this, at any point in your career you can do anything.’ Nothing will be as big of a leap as that.”
In the same interview, Laga’aia said that she grew up watching the original animated film, calling it “a perfect movie.”
The upcoming Moana remake retells the story of the 2016 film, which also received a sequel in 2024. Auli’i Cravalho voiced Moana in both films. Dwayne Johnson voiced Maui in the animated films and will reprise the role in the live-action film. Johnson also shared a promising update for a third animated film. Collectively, the franchise has grossed over $1.7 billion at the box office, with both films being praised by critics and audiences. However, early predictions for the live-action remake are not looking good, as the movie faces some potential problems.
The film is produced by Johnson, Beau Flynn, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. It is executive produced by Scott Sheldon, Charles Newirth, Kail, and Cravalho. Moana stars Catherine Laga’aia as Moana, Johnson as Maui, Rena Owen as Gramma Tala, John Tui as Chief Tui, Jemaine Clement as Tamatoa, and Frankie Adams as Sina.
Moana releases in theaters on July 10, 2026.
Originally reported by Rahul Majumdar on ComingSoon.net.
