---
title: "From 32,000 Hopefuls to Moana: How Catherine Laga'aia Won the Role"
description: "A 19-year-old Samoan-Australian actress who grew up loving the animated original has become Disney's live-action Moana — chosen, the studio says, from an open casting search that drew more than 32,000 hopefuls."
category: "Entertainment"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/entertainment
author: "Gabriela Soto"
published: 2026-06-30T22:48:00.000Z
updated: 2026-06-30T22:48:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/from-32000-hopefuls-to-moana-how-catherine-lagaaia-won-the-role
tags: ["Moana", "Disney", "Catherine Laga'aia", "live-action", "Pacific Islander", "Dwayne Johnson"]
---
# From 32,000 Hopefuls to Moana: How Catherine Laga'aia Won the Role

A 19-year-old Samoan-Australian actress who grew up loving the animated original has become Disney's live-action Moana — chosen, the studio says, from an open casting search that drew more than 32,000 hopefuls.

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](https://abc7.com/post/how-catherine-lagaaia-beat-32000-applicants-play-live-action-moana/19423768/). 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.

## Sources

- [How Catherine Laga'aia beat 32,000 applicants to play live-action Moana](https://abc7.com/post/how-catherine-lagaaia-beat-32000-applicants-play-live-action-moana/19423768/)