Catherine Laga’aia makes emotional feature film debut in Disney’s live-action ‘Moana’

As anticipation builds for Disney’s live-action “Moana,” we introduce you to the young Samoan Australian breakout star who landed the title role.

The team searched the world and saw more than 32,000 Moana hopefuls, until they found their wayfinding daughter of the village chief.  

I sat down with Catherine Laga’aia in Hawaii. The 19-year-old is making her feature film debut.

“I feel like I’ve been kind of hit with a wave of things,” she says. “It feels like I’m finally sharing a story that I’ve been keeping secret for so long. It’s like you’re finally allowed to let people in.”

Laga’aia is emotional as she enters the Disney legacy.

“I think it’s nerve-wracking,” she says. “But it’s really fun to get to join this family. I feel like everyone is so open and excited for me to be there.”

Laga’aia was 9-years-old when the first animated film hit theaters.

“To me, Moana was an icon,” she says. “She was an idol. It was the first time that I got to see what I looked like on screen. I saw my hair, my face, my nose. It was kind of the first time that people on the street would stop me and say: ‘You look like  Moana! You look like this Disney princess.’ That was such a cool feeling when you’re so little.”

Now, she is that Disney princess.

“I am that Disney princess,” she laughs. “It’s kind of full circle.”

Laga’aia is one of eight siblings from a very musical family.

“I kind of found singing through this movie,” she says.  “I grew up in a family of singers, but my siblings were a lot better than me. I wanted my own thing. I wanted something that I can do, and that’s kind of how I found my love for theater and acting. I was like: ‘This is my thing! I’m going to kind of put my mark on this, and I want to be the best at it.'”

Disney’s live-action “Moana” is in theaters nationwide on July 10.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of this station.