\u201cShe’s something special,\u201d says Kail, the director of Disney’s new live-action <\/a>Moana<\/a> (in theaters July 10), who selected Laga\u02bbaia out of \u201cthousands of submissions\u201d for her feature film debut as the titular Polynesian-inspired chief’s daughter.<\/p>\n Noting that the 19-year-old Samoan-Australian actress went straight from her performing-arts high school to leading a movie opposite Dwayne Johnson<\/a> (reprising his role as the demigod Maui from the 2016 animated musical), Kail, 49, tells PEOPLE, \u201cI would say to her, \u2018If you can do this, at any point in your career you can do anything.’ Nothing will be as big of a leap as that.\u201d<\/p>\n Catherine Laga\u02bbaia in ‘Moana’ Laga\u02bbaia, who calls her Sydney childhood with her Star Wars actor father, Jay, and educator mother, Sandie, \u201cthe most normal, run-of-the-mill teenage years ever,\u201d knew that playing the flesh-and-blood version of a beloved Disney character was no small task.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone’s advice was just that it’s going to be something different,\u201d says the actress, who grew up watching the animated Moana \u2014 and calls it \u201ca perfect movie.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo there’s no way to match that. You have to do something different,\u201d she continues. \u201cEmbracing that and stepping into that with as much ambition and imagination as you can was the best route for us making a live-action [remake].\u201d<\/p>\n Auli\u02bbi Cravalho<\/a>, the voice behind the title role in 2016’s Moana and its hit 2024 sequel<\/a>, recalls sending Laga\u2018aia an email of support before filming. \u201cI was like, \u2018I’m here if you need me.’ But I also said, \u2018This is entirely your own,’\u201d recalls Cravalho, 25.<\/p>\n The Mean Girls star, an executive producer<\/a> on the new film, was then impressed with Laga\u2018aia’s \u201cchutzpah\u201d on set. \u201cTo be able to stand next to Dwayne \u2018the Rock’ Johnson on a canoe and feel cool as a cucumber? Catherine walked in with that kind of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n Dwayne Johnson and Catherine Laga’aia on April 16 The new Moana, written by Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller, includes all of the original film’s plot points and tunes from composer Lin-Manuel Miranda<\/a> (who penned a new song for the film, \u201cAlong the Way<\/a>,\u201d featuring the voices of Laga\u02bbaia, Cravalho and Johnson, 54). Laga\u02bbaia’s Moana voyages past the reef of her isolated island Motunui on a quest to restore the heart of the goddess Te Fiti, stolen by Johnson’s rascally demigod.<\/p>\n The role entailed plenty of challenges for the first-timer, from learning Polynesian dance and wayfinding practices in Hawaii to enduring a \u201cfreezing\u201d Atlanta water tank while shooting in front of a blue screen. \u201cWhen we’re filming those scenes where there’s actually nothing to look at and nothing to play o\ufb00,\u201d she quips, \u201cthat’s when you’re like, \u2018That’s Dwayne Johnson in a wig. Wait, what am I doing?’\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Catherine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f8dcff48048898d399be64b1b46e727f.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: Disney\/YouTube<\/p>\n![\"Dwayne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b3ac32b3e9740f6edab7a40861aed414.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: Monica Schipper\/Getty<\/p>\n
![\"Catherine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/af09c0c2c61c1de8858c5f5ea7a4c154.jpeg\"\/)
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