Cravalho was born in Kohala, Hawaii,[4] and is of Chinese, Native Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, Portuguese, and Irish descent.[6][7] Her parents Dwayne and Puanani "ran a construction company and divorced when she was young".[8] At the time she made her breakthrough, she was living in Mililani, Hawaii, with her mother and was in her first year of high school, singing soprano in the glee club[9][10] at Kamehameha Schools' Kapālama campus.[11] She grew up with her mother in a one-bedroom apartment, and they had to rely on the federal food stamps program for support.[8] Following the success of Moana, she bought a house for her mother.[8]
In June 2021, Cravalho announced that she had been accepted into Columbia University and subsequently revealed that she planned to major in environmental science.[12][13] However, she repeatedly deferred her entrance to Columbia in order to focus on acting to the point where she would have to reapply for admission to study there.[14]
Career
Cravalho in 2017
As a 14-year-old high school freshman, Cravalho was cast as the title character in the 2016 animated movie Moana.[15][16] She has stated that she was initially not going to audition for the role because "there were already so many great submissions that [she] didn't think [she] needed to try out".[17] However, a talent agent in Oʻahu discovered her through a charity video contest and brought her to Los Angeles to audition for the role.[7][18] Casting director Rachel Sutton has stated that Cravalho was the last person to audition out of hundreds of actresses.[7][19]
In February 2017, it was announced that she had been cast in the pilot for the NBC drama Rise, which was ordered to series on May 4, 2017.[20][21] The series premiered on March 13, 2018, but NBC cancelled the series on May 15, 2018, due to low ratings.[22] In May 2017, she sang the national anthem at the National Memorial Day Concert.[23] In November 2017, Cravalho announced she was going to reprise her role as Moana in the first Hawaiian language–dubbed Disney film.[24][25] The dubbed Moana premiered on June 10, 2018.[26]
On November 18, 2021, it was announced that Cravalho would voice the title character, Hailey, in the animated comedy-adventure series Hailey's On It!, which premiered on June 8, 2023, on Disney Channel.[33] She also has a role in the sci-fi drama series The Power, where she plays Jos Cleary-Lopez, a teenager who develops electric powers, and as Janis ʻImiʻike in Mean Girls, a 2024 film adaptation of the stage musical Mean Girls.
In 2023, it was announced that Cravalho would be an executive producer on the upcoming live-action adaptation of Moana but would not reprise the titular role. She stated in 2024 that "it feels really important to me to pass the baton to the next young woman of Pacific Island descent".[34]
In July 2024, it was announced that Cravalho will take over the role of Sally Bowles in the Broadway production of Cabaret beginning September 16.[35] She had a brief voice role as a talking anti-venom pen in the 2025 film Zootopia 2.[36]
In April 2026, it was announced that Cravalho would guest-star in Sofia the First: Royal Magic, a sequel to Sofia the First, as Moana, reprising her voice role. It will be the first time Moana and Sofia have interacted in a Disney series, with Moana providing "wisdom and guidance" to Sofia.[37][38]
↑"'Sofia The First: Royal Magic' Premieres May 25 On Disney Jr. With The First 8 Episodes Streaming Next Day On Disney+" (Press release). Disney. Disney+. Archived from the original on April 2, 2026. Retrieved April 4, 2026. ...It was also announced today that Moana, Rapunzel, Jasmine, Cinderella, Aurora and Elena of Avalor will make special appearances throughout the series, offering guidance, wisdom and support when Sofia needs it the most...This marks the first time that Moana will interact with Sofia. Many of the classic Disney Princesses appeared alongside Sofia in the original series. Auli'i Cravalho reprises her role as Moana
↑Mainville, Nicholas (September 6, 2022), Disney Dreamlight Valley (Adventure, Family, Fantasy), Gameloft, archived from the original on September 19, 2022, retrieved September 20, 2022
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