Dwayne Johnson is set to reprise his role as Maui in the upcoming Moana live-action movie. He had to undergo a lot of work to transform into the role. The trailer was released on Monday, giving fans their first look at the movie.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Johnson and director Thomas Kail spoke about the movie, and more specifically, the work that went into turning Johnson into the real-life Maui, starting with the character’s iconic hair.
“We knew that it had to be something that could have real lift to it,” Kail said of the wig Johnson wears in the movie. “Because you’re doing this on the water, ‘what does it look like wet?’ is a real conversation when you’re making Moana. That one weighs seven pounds more with all the water in it for all those hours a day.”
The Rock put on 40 pounds (of prosthetics) for the role
Johnson also talked about the prosthetics that he wears to embody Maui’s larger-than-life build. According to the wrestling legend, Johnson had to wear upwards of an additional 40 pounds to play the role.
“The thing that became a challenge, that I had to work through very quickly, that I didn’t anticipate was the prosthetics and the hair and then the body. That is an additional 40 pounds on you,” Johnson said. “There’s a freedom when you perform, whether it’s as an actor or singing. So that was an adjustment on how to actually work my emotions through the 40 pounds of prosthetics and hair and body that I had on me.”
Alongside Johnson, the upcoming live-action Moana film will star Catherine Laga’aia in the titular role of Moana. John Tui plays Chief Tui, while Frankie Adams is Sina and Rena Owen is Gramma Tala. The rest of the cast has yet to be finalized.
The script for the new Moana movie is written by Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller. Kail is making his narrative feature directorial debut with the film.
The live-action Moana remake will be released in United States theaters on July 10, 2026.
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