Auli’i Cravalho, the voice behind it Disney’s Moana character, didn’t have the easiest start in life.
In a new interview with People magazine, the 24-year-old opened up about the role that changed her life.
“I can really look back that entire decade on how much growth I experienced,” she told the outlet.
“Moana” star Auli’i Cravalho survived on food stamps and lived in a one-bedroom apartment with her mother before landing her breakout role. (Kate Green/Getty Images)
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Before she played the main character in 2016’s “Moana,” Cravalho and her mother were on food stamps and shared a one-bedroom apartment in Mililani on Oahu.
“We lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Mililani when I was cast. I slept in the bedroom, my mother slept on the couch. She gave me everything,” the ‘Mean Girls’ star said.
Auli’i Cravalho voiced the main character in 2016’s “Moana” and its sequel. (Kate Green; © 2024 Disney)
Cravalho grew up on The Big Island and Oahu, and after the success of the first ‘Moana’, bought a house for her mother, Puanani.
Cravalho says her mother “gave me everything.” (Paul Hiffmeyer/Disney Parks via Getty Images)
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“I bought my mother a house. She is happily retired,” she told People.
“Your parents give you so much,” she continued. “Kids feel a little guilty, I’ll be honest! But we are so grateful for our parents’ sacrifices.”
“When I was cast, we lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Mililani. I slept in the bedroom, my mother slept on the couch. She gave me everything.”
Cravalho said her parents, who divorced when she was young, kept her under house arrest start of her career.
“My parents said, ‘Listen, if (‘Moana’) doesn’t go anywhere, you have to finish high school. You have to do the dishes. You have to make your bed. Don’t let it get to you.” head,” she said.
Cravalho co-starred with Dwayne Johnson in both animated “Moana” films. (Barry King/WireImage)
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In a recent interview with The New York Times, Cravalho said she was immediately associated with the character.
“My name was no longer Auli’i – everyone called me Moana in the hallway, including some of my teachers!” she told the outlet when asked what she remembered from the day she got the news.
“I absolutely owe the start of my career to Moana, and I have now played roles that have challenged me as an actor and grown me as a person,” she added. “But I also find that I’m still deeply connected to Moana, because I miss my family all the time when I’m gone.”
Cravalho said everyone she knew started calling her “Moana” when she got the role at age 14. (© 2024 Disney)
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Cravalho also reflected on being a “Disney kid,” telling People, “I think it means so much when you spend all your energy on a project and then have nothing left for yourself.” ‘
She admitted that she could be stubborn when it came to homework and that her mother was “the one who enforced discipline.”
Cravalho said that being a “Disney kid” requires you to “dedicate all your energy to a project and then have nothing left for yourself.” (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
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“She was the one who really supported me at that moment… That was tough parenting to help me grow as a person, but she also looked me in the eye and said, ‘You have to be kind and you have to be kind to me. ‘ In those moments I realized, ‘Okay, I can’t give everything of myself.'”
