Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Live-action ‘Moana’ to deliver grand ocean adventure
From left, actors Dwayne Johnson and Catherine Laga'aia, and and director Thomas Kail attend an online press conference for their movie “Moana,” Monday. Courtesy of Walt Disney Company Korea
By Baek Byung-yeul
The live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated movie “Moana” will offer a massive and entertaining theatrical experience that is perfect for the summer season, its director Thomas Kail said Monday.
"There's big laughs, there's big adventure, and we tried to make a big summer movie for you," Kail said during an online press conference.
"Moana" follows the journey of a brave young girl (Catherine Laga'aia) chosen by the ocean who teams up with the legendary demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to save her island from a terrible curse.
The project has raised high expectations, especially given Kail's prestigious background as a Tony Award winner for directing the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton.”
The casting process for the lead role was immensely competitive, with newcomer Laga'aia beating out tens of thousands of other young women.
"Over 32,000 very talented young women submitted to play this part," Kail said. "When I saw the first tape that Katherine submitted, she was singing ‘How Far I'll Go,’ and she did two of the scenes. I just remember this feeling, and it was both in the quality of her voice and also the storytelling. I just thought she understands that feeling of yearning, of being in one place and wanting to be somewhere else."
Catherine Laga'aia in a scene from “Moana” / Courtesy of Walt Disney Company Korea
Laga'aia, whose grandparents hail from Savai'i and the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific, where the story is set, said playing Moana holds a profound personal connection for her.
"I think that's an ode to the 2016 (animated film) in that they've created such an incredible character that she's so like the real Pacific Islander woman that she was representing," Laga'aia said. "I think getting to grow up with her and getting to see and have that representation so young was definitely part of the reason why I've grown up to be so much like her. I think I really admired her ambition and courage and curiosity."
Johnson, who voiced Maui in the original 2016 animation, returns to play the character for the live adaptation. He explained that he wanted to bring a layer of genuine human emotion and vulnerability.
"The one thing that I wanted to honor about my grandfather that ... I wanted the live action version to embody, would be his honesty, his vulnerability," Johnson said. "Because it's real flesh and blood, and real human beings ... in these scenes, and this is real life, and it's real culture and real people.”
Dwayne Johnson in a scene from “Moana” / Courtesy of Walt Disney Company Korea
Johnson also said his role on set was to support Laga'aia as she navigated her very first feature film.
"Maui realized 'You must let this young woman live her life and go after the thing that she is looking to go after, and don't stand in her way — support her and be there for her, and watch your world get better,'" Johnson said. "Because I feel that way with my own daughters, and by the way, I felt that way when Catherine came on set.”
“Moana” will be released in theaters here on July 8.