\u201cIt\u2019s indomitable and she\u2019s going to try and she\u2019s going to keep going. And she also has this light within her and she wants to share it. And so I think we\u2019re all the beneficiaries of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Catherine \u2013 who is the daughter of honorary Aussie actor Jay Laga\u2019aia \u2013 first auditioned for the role three years ago after her mum and agent saw a Disney Instagram post announcing the global search for Moana, so they urged Catherine to audition. <\/p>\n
To get them off her back, the then-16-year-old quickly filmed an audition tape against her mum\u2019s bedroom wall, did two takes and was done. She submitted the tape and thought nothing more of it, until Disney came calling. <\/p>\n
Fast forward three years and she\u2019s back in Sydney promoting her film in front of her home town. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so excited to get to celebrate it at such a scale,\u201d Catherine \u2013 who is a proud Samoan \u2013 told news.com.au at the event. \u201cThis movie has been so important to me and so has growing up in Australia, it\u2019s really shaped who I am. So I\u2019m so proud to get to stand here and represent the Sydney side of things considering the rest of the cast is so kind of worldly.\u201d<\/p>\n
And to be able to show off her stomping grounds to The Rock himself, Catherine was brimming with excitement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like I\u2019m showing my oldest sibling my room for the first time,\u201d she told us. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018This is what it looks like. Do you like it?\u2019 So I\u2019m really excited for him to get to be here and kind of celebrate Sydney with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t do this movie without him,\u201d she added. \u201cHe was so passionate about getting this film up on its legs and we really couldn\u2019t have made it without him. So I\u2019m really proud to get to be here with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson, who is a proud girl dad of three, has been cheering on Catherine since she was cast in the role. <\/p>\n
The actor took the young star under his wing, treating her just like one of his daughters and imparting words of wisdom from day dot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell my daughters, you belong in any room that you want to go in and I always tell them too, whatever you want to do, you can do it,\u201d he told news.com.au on the blue carpet. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou put in the effort and the universe, God, whatever you want to call it, that\u2019s much bigger than us, will always meet you halfway.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you must put in the effort and you must do the hard thing and the hard thing matters… <\/p>\n
On the other side of the hard thing, that\u2019s when good stuff happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moana is now showing in cinemas. <\/p>\n