# Auliʻi Cravalho

Chloe Auliʻi Cravalho (/aʊˈliːʔi krəˈvɑːljoʊ/; born November 22, 2000) is an American actress. She made her acting debut as the voice of the title character in the Disney animated musical film Moana (2016) and reprised her role in the 2024 sequel.
Cravalho has had leading roles in the drama series Rise (2018), the drama film All Together Now (2020), the supernatural comedy Darby and the Dead (2022), the sci-fi series The Power (2023), and the 2024 film adaptation of Mean Girls: The Musical. She has also acted in several theatrical productions, including Evita (2023) in London and Cabaret (2024) on Broadway.

## Early life and education

Cravalho was born in Kohala, Hawaii, and is of Chinese, Native Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, Portuguese, and Irish descent. Her parents Dwayne and Puanani "ran a construction company and divorced when she was young". 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 at Kamehameha Schools' Kapālama campus. She grew up with her mother in a one-bedroom apartment, and they had to rely on the federal food stamps program for support. Following the success of Moana, she bought a house for her mother.
In June 2021, Cravalho announced that she had been accepted into Columbia University and subsequently revealed that she planned to major in environmental science. However, during the early 2020s, she repeatedly deferred her entrance to Columbia in order to focus on her acting career, to the point that she would have to reapply to Columbia for admission because she had deferred too many times.

## Career

As a 14-year-old high school freshman, Cravalho was cast as the title character in the 2016 animated movie Moana. 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". However, a talent agent in Oahu discovered her through a charity video contest and brought her to Los Angeles to audition for the role. Casting director Rachel Sutton has stated that Cravalho was the last person to audition out of hundreds of actresses.
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. The series premiered on March 13, 2018, but NBC cancelled the series on May 15, 2018, due to low ratings. In May 2017, she sang the national anthem at the National Memorial Day Concert. In November 2017, Cravalho announced she was going to reprise her role as Moana in the first Hawaiian language–dubbed Disney film. The dubbed Moana premiered on June 10, 2018.
On November 5, 2019, Cravalho portrayed Ariel in ABC's The Little Mermaid Live!, a live-action concert rendition of The Little Mermaid. In 2020, she starred in All Together Now, directed by Brett Haley for Netflix. Cravalho has twice performed as guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World, in 2018 and 2021.
In 2020, Cravalho participated in Acting for a Cause, a live classic play and screenplay reading series created, directed and produced by Brando Crawford. Cravalho played Gwendolen Fairfax in The Importance of Being Earnest, Laertes in Hamlet, Lady Catherine in Pride and Prejudice, and Jeannie Bueller in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The reading raised funds for non-profit charities including Mount Sinai Medical Center.
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. 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 'Imi'ike 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".
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.

## Personal life

In April 2020, Cravalho came out as bisexual. In January 2024, Cravalho revealed that she has Ehlers–Danlos syndrome.
During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Cravalho became a member of Artists4Ceasefire and signed the group's open letter urging Joe Biden to facilitate a ceasefire to end the war.

## Filmography
### Film

List of Auliʻi Cravalho film appearances :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2016 | Moana | Moana (voice) | English and Hawaiian-language dubbings |
| 2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | Moana (voice) | |
| 2020 | All Together Now | Amber Appleton | |
| 2022 | Crush | AJ Campos | |
| 2022 | Darby and the Dead | Capri Donahue | |
| 2023 | Once Upon a Studio | Moana (voice) | Short film |
| 2024 | Mean Girls | Janis 'Imi'ike | |
| 2024 | Moana 2 | Moana (voice) | English and Hawaiian-language dubbings |
| 2026 | Moana | — | In production; executive producer |

### Television

List of Auliʻi Cravalho television appearances :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2018 | Rise | Lilette Suarez | Main role |
| 2019 | Weird City | Rayna Perez | Episode: "Go to College" |
| 2019 | The Little Mermaid Live! | Ariel | Television special |
| 2019 | Elena of Avalor | Veronica (voice) | Episode: "The Last Laugh" |
| 2022 | Harmonious Live! | Narrator | Television special |
| 2022 | Maui Shark Mystery | Narrator | Main role |
| 2023 | The Power | Jos Cleary-Lopez | Main role |
| 2023 | Lego Disney Princess: The Castle Quest | Moana (voice) | Television special |
| 2023–2024 | Hailey's On It! | Hailey Banks, Kelci Fyre (voice) | Main role |
| 2024 | Chibiverse | Hailey Banks (voice) | Episode: "The Chibi Couple Game" |
| 2024 | Hailey Banks' Disney Mini Movie Marathon | Hailey Banks (voice) | Television special |
| 2024 | Krapopolis | Muses (voice) | Episode: "Muse Your Illusion" |
| 2024 | The Tiny Chef Show | Herself | Episode: "Poi" |

### Video games

List of Auliʻi Cravalho video game roles :
| Year | Title | Role |
| 2019 | The Sims 4 | Nalani Mahiʻai (voice) |
| 2023 | Disney Dreamlight Valley | Moana (voice) |
| 2024 | Ark 2 | Meeka (voice) |

### Web

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2023 | Theme Song Takeover | Hailey Banks (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2023 | Broken Karaoke | Hailey Banks (voice) | 1 episode |
| 2024 | Hailey's On It!: Road Trip | Hailey Banks (voice) | Short series |

### Stage

List of Auliʻi Cravalho stage performances :
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Notes |
| 2018 | Have a Nice Day | Teenage daughter | Minetta Lane Theatre | Off-Broadway live reading |
| 2019 | The Little Mermaid | Ariel | Walt Disney Studios | Concert |
| 2023 | Sunset Boulevard | Betty Schaefer | Eisenhower Theater, Kennedy Center | Regional |
| 2023 | Evita | Eva Peron | LW Theatres, Drury Lane | West End |
| 2024 | Children of Eden | Yonah | David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center | Concert |
| 2024-2025 | Cabaret | Sally Bowles | August Wilson Theatre | Broadway |

### Music videos

List of Auliʻi Cravalho music videos :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2018 | Live Your Story | Herself | Music video for Walt Disney Records |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2016 | Indiana Film Journalists Association | Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance | Moana | Nominated |
| 2016 | Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | Best Voice Performance | Moana | Nominated |
| 2017 | Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Animated Female (tied with Ginnifer Goodwin for Zootopia (2016)) | Moana | Won |
| 2017 | Annie Awards | Outstanding Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | Moana | Won |
| 2017 | BTVA Feature Film Voice Acting Award | Best Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Feature Film | Moana | Won |
| 2017 | BTVA Feature Film Voice Acting Award | Best Vocal Ensemble in a Feature Film (shared with the cast of Moana) | Moana | Nominated |
| 2017 | BTVA People's Choice Voice Acting Award | Best Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Feature Film | Moana | Won |
| 2017 | BTVA People's Choice Voice Acting Award | Best Vocal Ensemble in a Feature Film (shared with the cast of Moana) | Moana | Won |
| 2017 | BTVA People's Choice Voice Acting Award | Breakthrough Voice Actress of the Year | Moana | Won |
| 2017 | BTVA Voice Acting Award | Breakthrough Voice Actress of the Year | Moana | Nominated |
| 2017 | Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Frenemies (with Dwayne Johnson) | Moana | Nominated |
| 2017 | MTV Movie + TV Awards | Best Musical Moment | Moana | Nominated |
| 2017 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie: Breakout Star | Moana | Won |
| 2017 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie: Fantasy Actress | Moana | Nominated |
| 2017 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role - Teen Actress | Moana | Nominated |
| 2017 | World Soundtrack Awards | Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film (with Lin-Manuel Miranda) | Moana | Nominated |
| 2018 | National Film and Television Award | Best Newcomer | Moana | Nominated |