Aulii Cravalho was born on 22nd November 2000, and she is an American actress . She began her acting career at the age of 16 , providing the voice the title character in the hit Disney film Moana. After her initial success, she appeared in the NBC drama series Rise, the Netflix drama film All Together Now, the supernatural comedy Darby and the Dead, the Amazon Prime Video sci-fi series The Power, the Disney Channel animated series Hailey's On It, and the 2024 film adaptation of the Mean Girls musical. Early Life and Education Spintax Born in Kohala, Hawaii, Cravalho, whose background is rooted in Chinese , Native Hawaiian , Puerto Rican, Portuguese, and Irish ancestry . At the time of her rise to fame , she resided with her mother in Mililani, Hawaii, and was in her first year of high school . She sang soprano in the glee club at Kamehameha Schools Kapalama campus. In June 2021 , Cravalho shared that she had been admitted to Columbia University and revealed her intention to major in environmental science .