Auli I Cravalho

Auli’i Cravalho was born on November 22, 2000, in Kohala, Hawaii. She is of Native Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, Portuguese, Chinese, and Irish descent. Raised initially in Kohala and then Mililani, Hawaii, by her single mother, Puanani Cravalho, she relied on federal food stamps for support. While in her freshman year of high school at Kamehameha Schools’ Kapālama campus, singing soprano in the glee club, she was discovered by a talent agent through a charity video contest. This led to her auditioning for and securing the titular role in Disney’s “Moana” when she was just 14 years old, marking her acting debut.

Following her breakthrough role in the 2016 Disney 3D computer-animated musical feature film “Moana,” Cravalho continued to build her career in both acting and music. She reprised her role as Moana in the Hawaiian language-dubbed version of the film in 2018 and has returned to voice the character in subsequent projects, including “Ralph Breaks the Internet” (2018), “Once Upon a Studio” (2023), and the upcoming “Moana 2” (2024). Her work extends beyond voice acting to live-action roles, such as the NBC drama series “Rise” (2018), the Netflix drama film “All Together Now” (2020), and the Hulu romantic comedy “Crush” (2022).

Cravalho has also made notable appearances on stage and television. She portrayed Ariel in ABC’s “The Little Mermaid Live!” (2019), a live-action concert rendition of “The Little Mermaid.” She played Jos Cleary-Lopez in the sci-fi series “The Power” (2023) and Janis ‘Imi’ike in the 2024 film adaptation of “Mean Girls: The Musical.” Upcoming projects include an executive producer role for the live-action “Moana” (2026) and taking on the role of Sally Bowles in the Broadway production of “Cabaret” starting in September 2024. In 2021, she announced her acceptance to Columbia University to major in environmental science, though she has deferred her enrollment to focus on her acting career.