“Moana” star Auliʻi Cravalho is expressing gratitude for the Disney animated film that drastically changed her life in the blink of an eye.
In an interview with People magazine published Nov. 30, the 24-year-old, who voices the lead character, Moana, reflected on the full-circle moment of her life on the heels of the film’s sequel.
“I really get to have that full decade look back at just how much growth I’ve gone through,” she said.
Cravalho, a Hawaii native, said she and her mother, Puanani Cravalho, lived off food stamps and shared a one-bedroom apartment in Mililani on Oahu.
“We lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Mililani when I was cast. I slept in the bedroom, my mom slept on the couch. She gave me everything,” the actress said.
The first “Moana” film, released in 2016, grossed more than $600 million at the box office worldwide and propelled Cravalho into an overnight success.
As a result, Cravalho said she was able to buy a house for her mother, enabling her to retire.
“Your parents give you so much,” she said. “Kids feel a little indebted, I’m going to be honest! But we feel so grateful for our parents’ sacrifices.”
Her parents, who are divorced, attempted to keep Cravalho level-headed, as she was only 14 years old when she was cast for the role in 2014.
“My parents were like, ‘Listen, if [Moana] doesn’t go anywhere, you need to finish high school. You need to do the dishes. You need to fix your bed. Don’t let it get to your head,’” she told the magazine.
“She [Puanani] was the one to discipline. She was the one to really support me right then and there,” she added.
Cravalho went on to star in other notable credits, including the “Mean Girls” musical earlier this year, and is currently on Broadway in “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club.”
She goes on to reprise her starring role in “Moana 2” alongside Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, Alan Tudyk, and others.
A ‘Thank You’ to Parents
Cravalho joins a growing list of other celebrities who have used their success to help their parents or those who helped achieve their dreams.“He [his father] called my brother Chris back and said: ‘I don’t know how to feel. Since I left home I have had debts and I thought I’d be paying them off until I died and have this weight hanging over me, and now to have them completely cleared,'” Liam Hemsworth told Britain’s Independent in 2015.
“She’d take money out of the house mortgage and lend me money,” she said at the time. “So I always knew, ‘Oh, I’ve gotta pay that back.’
“And one day, when I made enough money, I just paid that whole mortgage off completely,” she added. “I was like, ‘Mom, don’t even worry about that mortgage anymore. It doesn’t exist anymore.’”
Meanwhile, actor Michael B. Jordan bought his parents a house and helped financially, crediting them for his success.
