'Moana 2' star Auli'i Cravalho reflects on film's impact on her career

NEW YORK -- Moana returns to the big screen this week to take us on a new adventure through Hawaii and Auli'i Cravalho returns as Moana alongside stars like the Rock and Nicole Scherzinger.

But this is more than just a movie for Cravalho - it's a coming-of-age story and a dream come true.

Moana was her first professional role when she was just 16 years old and it has since catapulted her career.

"I really feel that we are reaching out to the future," Cravalho said. "If our last film was also about connecting with our past, we meet Moana three years after our last film has ended. For the first time in Disney history, this is big... a Disney princess has aged. So she's a little bit older, she's a little bit wiser. She is taking her people in a direction that her parents could have never imagined."

Cravalho has remained appreciative of her family's support in her success.

"I mean the phrase that I am my ancestors' wildest dreams, not even my ancestors, I am my parents' wildest dreams," she said. "I grew up in the same small town that my dad was born and raised in and still lives there, and the idea of even coming to New York City, he goes, 'that's really, really different.t"

While she has seen international fame as Moana, she hopes to do even more with her career.

"I think what surprises people the most is I do voices as well," she said. "So Moana was my first job ever, so she is very similar to me, but I've also done, different children's shows, where it's like, 'Hi, my name is Lulu,' you know, just cute voices going, 'this is awesome,' different accents... I would love to play a villain."

While talking about "Moana 2," Cravalho has also been performing on Broadway where she portrays Sally Bowles in "Cabaret."

"It really is a mind bend to be going into British accent in the evenings and then coming out and then doing a Moana like, 'I am Moana,'" Cravalho said. "It's tough. I have also lost my voice. I have learned in Broadway there is a different way of singing and nailing eight shows a week. I thought that I should be giving 100% because that's where I exist. And then I lost my voice and I realized, ah, there's a different technique here that I have not been taught. So I'm back in voice lessons. I'm back on the grind."

Broadway was never something that Cravalho, born and raised in Hawaii, could have ever imagined.

"I grew up on an island in the middle of the middle of the sea," she said. "I didn't even know what Broadway was.... my best friend and I, we have been wanting to live in New York City since we met in seventh grade. We sat next to each other on the couch at AP World History, and we put it on our vision boards," Cravalho said. "Like, oh, wouldn't it be so fun. We lived in New York City together, and we experienced fall and winter in New York City, two girls from Hawaii being like, can you imagine us in beanies and scarves?"

"Moana 2" hits theaters Wednesday.

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