Aulii Cravalho was born on 22nd November 2000, and she is an American actress . She began her acting career at the age of 16 , voicing the title character in the Disney animated musical film Moana . Following her debut , she went on to star 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 descent, Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, Portuguese, and Irish ancestry . At the time of her rise to fame , she was living in Mililani, Hawaii, with her mother , and was in her first year of high school . As a soprano, she performed in the glee club at Kamehameha Schools Kapalama campus. In mid-2021, Cravalho shared that she had been admitted to Columbia University and revealed her intention to major in environmental science .