Reinterpreting a beloved Disney characters would be a challenge for any actor, but was it especially daunting for Catherine Laga’aia, who was just 17 when she made her film debut leading Disney’s live-action Moana.
Laga’aia, now 19, took over the role from Auli’i Cravalho, who voiced the character in the two previous animated movies, and was well aware of the pressure that came with the role. As an Australian actress of Samoan descent, it was nerve-wracking knowing she was embodying a character that she grew up resonating with, but was quickly put at ease by co-star Dwayne Johnson and director Thomas Kail, known for Broadway’s Hamilton.
Of first watching the 2016 film she recalls thinking: “This is a princess who looks like me. This is a princess who looks like my sister. The dad looks like my dad. This is a village on an island that has been described to me, and now it’s being so vividly put in front of me.”
Laga’aia was basically unknown when she auditioned for Moana, only previously appearing in a few episodes of the Australian miniseries The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart in 2023, but beat out 32,000 applicants worldwide in an open casting call on Instagram for the lead role.
Though she didn’t have much confidence going into the audition, she quips that her mom instantly knew she would be landing the part — call it mother’s intuition.
