Dwayne Johnson & Auli’i Cravalho Talk 'Moana 2,' Improvising Vocals, & Their Cultures

Entertainment Weekly

In this video, Dwayne Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho dive into the challenges and excitement of returning to their beloved roles in Disney’s ‘Moana 2.’ Auli’i shares her enthusiasm for improvising in the vocal booth and how her own maturity has influenced the film’s music, while Dwayne reflects on the unique energy required to bring animated characters to life. Both stars reflect on the cultural significance of Moana, with Dwayne speaking to his pride in showcasing his heritage and Auli’i expressing gratitude for the opportunity to amplify Pacific Islander traditions and even provide Hawaiian-language overdubs. Together, they discuss the legacy of Moana and the deep meaning it holds for both of them, from personal growth to cultural representation.

Transcript

00:00I'm a theater girly at heart so I love a good show tune and I love a big Disney ending and

00:05truly I can't wait for fans to see Moana 2 because that is what we're giving.

00:09I think the bar is set high and the expectation is set high like you gotta come with it. You

00:13can't suck as my grandmother used to say. This is a call from the ancestors

00:19to sail to new skies and reconnect our people across the entire ocean.

00:30Molly? Taking on an animated musical is arguably my favorite challenge to date.

00:37I've been fortunate over the path of my career to have taken roles in many different genres. When

00:42it's an animated film it requires some real diligence. You're generally locked in a booth.

00:48You have to bring a different kind of vibe and energy and life to your voice because the voice

00:55is the only thing that's going to carry you through these scenes and through the film.

00:58Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome.

01:00I'm improvising all the time in the recording booth. Whether or not it makes it into the

01:04final cut is beyond me. I'm turning 24 this year. I was 14 when I was cast originally.

01:09I get to also add some maturity into the music and some maturity through my voice and I get a

01:14little pop star moment with some of the riffs. Is there a line that I could say as Maui in real

01:20life live action compared to Maui animated Maui? The cool thing is I can answer that because we're

01:25actually shooting live action Moana at the same time now as we just wrapped Moana 2 animated.

01:32With an animated film there's a little elevated almost like a histrionic energy to Maui. Everything

01:39has as I like to say a little bit more mustard on it. Chee-hoo! Now that's live action. Here comes

01:45animated. Chee-hoo! See the difference? What's my party trick?

01:50I mean besides belting out a show tune like that and sounding damn good I'm also incredibly limber.

01:58I can do that. That sounded worse than it was. It all depends on what kind of party it is. If it's

02:05a party for little kids I could transform into Maui. They all start to gather around. I know it's a lot,

02:11the hair, the bod. When you're staring at a demigod. I make my pecs bounce and the kids go crazy. It's

02:18awesome. It was an adult party. Well with tequila. I do this thing where I could pick up a grape.

02:27Not with my hands, not my feet, not even my mouth. Right now my publicist is like please god don't say

02:35anymore. Don't please. I don't know what else am I good at? Oh god what else am I good at? Great!

02:44I'll stay with that one for the rest of the night. We all have a legacy that we're going to leave

02:49behind. I think when we recognize that and embrace it I think it begins to change our actions a little

02:55bit. Like we think a little bit more about the stuff that we do. What Moana has done uh has provided an

03:02opportunity for me as a man of color half black half Samoan to showcase our culture and bring our

03:11culture around the world. It feels so special truly. I mean one that we get to further amplify

03:16wayfinding and navigation. That is something that Pacific Islanders have have truly dominated for

03:22generations and navigating by the stars and something that I have to say is the Polynesian

03:26Boyaging Society. The Hokule'a is a canoe that is going on their Moana Nuiakea right now. They are

03:32circumnavigating the globe using only indigenous instruments to guide their way. I also am very

03:38lucky that I uh redo these films in olelo Hawaii the Hawaiian language that is a dying language. I no

03:45longer live in Hawaii but I feel my culture in my bones and I'm really grateful for it. I have never

03:53lost sight of who I am and the fact that when all this is said and done I'm going home. You know what I

03:58mean? There's a two-parter here. The idea of mana and what mana is and then the idea of protecting

04:04that mana. So mana is ever-present. Mana in Polynesian language is our spirit. It's our power.

04:11You can feel it in here. It's the kind of stuff that can make the hair on your skin stand up.

04:17It's the kind of stuff where you go, I don't know what that was. I just experienced it but that was

04:21amazing. I heard a quote a long time ago. I'll never forget it. It is, you always want to protect the

04:27thing that allows you to do what you do and that thing is our mana and by protecting it it means

04:34putting yourself in a position to make sure that you're doing the stuff that is aligned with your

04:39values, that you have people around you who are aligned with your values too, who are not envious

04:45of you, not going to try and bring you down and protecting it. I don't know what the definition of

04:50imposter syndrome is. I know who I am. I know that I'm great. I just get scared sometimes and I

04:57think that that's totally fine. You can call it imposter syndrome. You can call it nerves. You can

05:01call it anxiousness. I made my Westin debut playing Eva Peron in Evita and I felt like a runaway bride.

05:09I wanted to get out of that theater. It was the most difficult thing I've ever done and then by the

05:14time I finished my fourth show I thought, oh if I could just have one more. You don't always have to

05:20push through it. Sometimes that gut feeling is that I'm not quite ready. I'm going to listen to my

05:27tummy and I'm going to take a deep breath. I'm going to get it on the next run. And other times,

05:31especially when I have such an amazing team behind me that I've worked with since I was 14,

05:35sometimes they tell you, no, I know you, you got this. And sometimes other people can see what you

05:42cannot. So trusting the people around you, making sure that you have a good team and then trusting

05:47yourself. It's a very fine balance. I'm a proud girl dad, three daughters, all estrogen. I'm the

05:53only testosterone in the house, me and the dog. Moana has meant so much to them. This idea of a

05:59young girl who wants more out of life told the reef, that's it. Don't look beyond it. Don't go

06:06beyond it. But yet there's, there is more and girls have a tendency to begin to shrink a little bit.

06:14And we don't want that. We want them to walk in a room. I just had this conversation last night when

06:17I was with my daughter to bed. I don't want you to be small when you go in these rooms. Be respectful,

06:23be kind, but you don't never have to be small. So I love the conceit of that with Moana.

06:29I feel really grateful to be coming back to this character who I know and love. I think that she

06:34truly embodies and personifies strength and resilience and, and courage and grabbing a demigod by

06:41the ear and saying, you had better do better. I always feel like my generation right now,

06:49you know, we've things up. So generation after us and our younger generation, they're going to have

06:54the answers to the questions that we're creating now, to the questions and challenges that we have

06:59right now in maybe a very, very small way. Moana can help them. Parents realizing who I am and then

07:07telling their poor child to just stand next to me like, take a picture with her. And they're like,

07:13you don't look like Moana. That's fair child. That's so fair. Smile anyway, smile for the camera.

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