Auliʻi Cravalho | |
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Cravalho at the Moana premiere in Samoa, December 2016
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Born |
Kohala, Hawaii, U.S. |
November 22, 2000
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Actress, singer |
Years active | 2016–present |
Auliʻi Cravalho (/aʊˈliːʔi krəˈvæljoʊ/ ow-LEE-ee krə-VAL-yoh;) is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut as the title character in the 2016 film Moana. In 2018, Cravalho made her screen debut starring as Lilette Suarez in the NBC drama series Rise.
Cravalho was born in Kohala, Hawaii. She is of Native Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, Portuguese, Chinese and Irish descent. At the time she made her breakthrough, she was living in Mililani, Hawaii with her mother, Puanani Cravalho and was in her freshman year of high school at Kamehameha Schools' Kapālama campus.
Cravalho has stated that she was initially not going to audition for Moana because "there were already so many great submissions over YouTube". However, an Oahu talent agent discovered her at a charity competition and encouraged her to audition for the role.The Walt Disney Company 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.