Moana star Auli’i Cravalho has cleared up the debate about her character’s princess status.
Speaking about Moana, who’s the daughter of a chief and a wayfinder, Cravalho said: “Films are always representative of their times. For today’s day and age, we want to see a young woman being the hero of her own story. So, yeah, she is a princess, but she’s also a hero. I like that those two words are now interchangeable.”
“You probably won’t see Moana in a ballgown,” she jokingly stated. “And that’s fine.”
Cravalho also highlighted that the absence of a love interest for Moana adds to her personality and appeal. “I feel it’s really important to have characters go on their own hero’s journey of finding themselves, not necessarily finding a love interest or the love of their lives.”
“I really applaud our filmmakers for sticking with that as well because she is so interesting on her own. She doesn’t need anybody else!”
Moana 2 co-writer Jared Bush also shared his thoughts on what makes Moana so beloved: “She’s this unbelievable, dynamic hero who’s brave and will never stop taking on the world. And then she’s deeply empathetic. She cares about everyone. She cares about her family and her community. There’s some aspirational part of her as a character that people gravitate toward.”
