Three years after being announced, Disney's live-action remake of Moana is now in cinemas. While Dwayne Johnson and Jermaine Clement reprise their respective roles from the original 2016 animation, we have a new actor at the centre.
Catherine Laga'aia takes over the iconic part from Auli'i Cravalho, with this being the first film role in her career. She has, however, had a project on the small screen after appearing in three episodes of Prime Video's The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.
Born in the Australian city of Sydney in December 2006, Laga'aia actually isn't the first actor in the family - her father, Jay, appeared as Captain Typho in the Star Wars franchise and also played Elijah Johnson on soap opera Home and Away.
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"I inherited nepotism, that's for sure. I'll take that anytime," she quipped to PEOPLE. "Having my dad in the industry, as well as wanting to do the OG and the people who love the movies proud, I feel my biggest thing was I wanted him to be proud."
"He knows what's good, he knows what he likes. I'm someone on his side. That's the part of my family that I'm representing," she noted, before adding that she wanted him to be "proud of the legacy".
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While the live-action remake was formally announced by Johnson in April 2023, the casting of Laga'aia wasn't confirmed until June 2024, with producer Beau Flynn noting that over 32,000 submissions came in for the coveted role.
"We knew it was going to be an experience of finding a needle in a haystack, and Katie is just that," they said. "When we saw Katie, you could feel right away that it was her. When she was singing in the audition, she really understood the emotion that needed to come through."
"Katie had a vibe that just felt indomitable," added director Thomas Kail. "It felt like she was unafraid and curious. She just didn't waver; there was a gameness to her… There was a spark that was really apparent. In many ways, it just felt like it could only be her."
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For her part, Laga'aia described the audition as "intense", and added that it was a "real blessing" to step into the "legacy" that was created by Cravalho and Johnson. The actor, whose family hails from Samoa, said that the part was an "incredible honour".
While Laga'aia's performance has been praised, the film itself hasn't been warmly received by critics, with Rotten Tomatoes currently reporting a mixed approval rating of 36% from 111 reviews.
Moana is in cinemas now.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
