The story of Disney's new Moana begins the way the character's own does: with a young woman stepping into something far bigger than herself.
A very wide search
To find its lead, Disney cast an unusually wide net — more than 32,000 people auditioned for the role, ABC7 reported. The choice was Catherine Laga'aia, a 19-year-old actress of Samoan-Australian heritage, in what will be her first leading film role. The director, Thomas Kail — best known for staging the original Broadway production of Hamilton — said she had "that thing" that can't be taught, per ABC7.
The call
Laga'aia grew up watching the 2016 animated Moana, one of a generation of young Pacific Islander viewers who saw something of their own world in it. She recalled the moment Kail told her she had the part: "He told me, 'this is the best news I get to deliver today,'" she said, according to ABC7.
The film, and why the casting matters
The live-action Moana is set to open July 10, 2026, with Dwayne Johnson returning as the demigod Maui, the role he voiced in the original. Disney's decision to run an open, authenticity-first search — seeking a young woman of genuine Pacific heritage rather than a established star — drew praise when it was announced, given how closely the Moana story draws on Polynesian navigation traditions and an ocean-centered worldview. For Laga'aia, the leap from watching the film as a child to leading its live-action retelling is the kind of unlikely, hard-won journey the character herself would recognize.
