Who Is Catherine Laga’aia? Actor To Play Lead In Live-Action 'Moana'

The Moana Universe is finally expanding and ever-evolving into a spectacle. It was recently announced that the much-applauded and beloved animated movie Moana will soon be shot as a live-action movie. The cast and directors were disclosed and an interview with Variety captured the overwhelming emotions and ecstasy of the filmmakers and actors. 

Actors to Filmmakers of Moana: An Ode to Young Girls of Colour

The filmmakers for the lie action are, as stated by Variety, "Kail directs from a screenplay by Jared Bush, who wrote the screenplay for 2016’s “Moana,” along with Dana Ledoux Miller. The movie is produced by (Dwayne) Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia (via their Seven Bucks Productions banner) and Beau Flynn (for FlynnPictureCo). Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the original songs, will also serve as producer." The thing to note is how the cast and filmmakers have diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, especially the lead actress playing Moana. 

Pertaining to the target audience which are mostly young children, it becomes necessary to depict tales and fables they relate to. For years, Disney and other animation productions have been catering to a specific set of audiences which are white men and women. Most Disney princesses and characters are white with less and less diversity, with Moana it all changes. Not many live-action movies have been adapted from Disney movies but the most prominent ones have been Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Mulan.

With Moana now focusing on the story of a young teenage girl from the Pacific Islands serves as a reminder of bravery, breaking the patriarchy (going on a solo expedition against a male demigod) and beauty. Women of colour have been given fewer cinematic opportunities and even less recognition for their performances, with Moana it gives young girls of colour a chance to see someone like them on the big screen and feel recognised and powerful.

Catherine Laga'aia who is from Sydney, Australia, felt humbled and ecstatic during her Variety interview as she said, “I’m really excited to embrace this character because Moana is one of my favourites. My grandfather comes from Fa‘aala, Palauli, in Savai‘i. And my grandmother is from Leulumoega Tuai on the main island of ‘Upolu in Samoa. I’m honoured to have an opportunity to celebrate Samoa and all Pacific Island peoples, and to represent young girls who look like me.”

The film is set to release in July 2026 and the production unit said the filming would begin soon in 2024 summer. Recently, we also got the trailer for Moana 2 (animated version) which is set to release in November 2024 and stars Auli‘i Cravalho as Moana's voice-over who also voiced her in the 2016 Moana.