Auliʻi Cravalho (/aʊˈliːʔi krəˈvɑːljoʊ/;^[3][4] born November 22, 2000^[2]) is an American actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 16 as the voice of the title character in the Disney animated musical film Moana (2016).^[5][6][7] She went on to star in the NBC drama series Rise (2018), the Netflix drama film All Together Now (2020), the supernatural comedy Darby and the Dead (2022), the Amazon Prime Video sci-fi series The Power (2023), the Disney Channel animated series Hailey's On It!, and the 2024 film adaptation of the Mean Girls musical.

Cravalho was born in Kohala, Hawaii,^[2] and is of Native Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, Portuguese, Chinese, and Irish descent.^[8][9] At the time she made her breakthrough, she was living in Mililani, Hawaii, with her mother and was in her first year of high school, singing soprano in the glee club^[10][11] at Kamehameha Schools' Kapālama campus.^[12]

In June 2021, Cravalho announced that she had been accepted into Columbia University and subsequently revealed that she planned to major in environmental science.^[13][14]

Cravalho starred as the title character in the 2016 animated movie Moana. She has stated that she was initially not going to audition for the role because "there were already so many great submissions that [she] didn't think [she] needed to try out".^[15] However, a talent agent in Oahu discovered her through a charity video contest and brought her to Los Angeles to audition for the role.^[9][16] Casting director Rachel Sutton has stated that Cravalho was the last person to audition out of hundreds of actresses.^[9][17]

In February 2017, it was announced that she had been cast in the pilot for the NBC drama Rise, which was ordered to series on May 4, 2017.^[18][19] The series premiered on March 13, 2018, but NBC cancelled the series on May 15, 2018, due to low ratings.^[20] In May 2017, she sang the national anthem at the National Memorial Day Concert.^{[citation needed]} In November 2017, Cravalho announced she was going to reprise her role as Moana in the first Hawaiian language–dubbed Disney film.^[21][22] The dubbed Moana premiered on June 10, 2018.^[23]

On November 5, 2019, Cravalho portrayed Ariel in ABC's The Little Mermaid Live!, a live-action concert rendition of The Little Mermaid.^[24][25] In 2020, she starred in All Together Now, directed by Brett Haley for Netflix.^[26] Cravalho has twice performed as guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World, in 2018 and 2021.^[27]

In 2020, Cravalho participated in Acting for a Cause, a live classic play and screenplay reading series created, directed and produced by Brando Crawford.^[28] Cravalho played Gwendolen Fairfax in The Importance of Being Earnest,^[29] Laertes in Hamlet, Lady Catherine in Pride and Prejudice, and Jeannie Bueller in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The reading raised funds for non-profit charities including Mount Sinai Medical Center.^[28]

Cravalho was cast as the title character, Hailey, in the animated comedy-adventure series Hailey's On It!, which premiered on June 8, 2023.^[30] She also has a role in the sci-fi drama series The Power, where she plays Jos Cleary-Lopez, a teenager who develops electric powers, and as Janis 'Imi'ike in Mean Girls, a 2024 film adaptation of the stage musical Mean Girls.^{[citation needed]}

In 2023, it was announced that Cravalho would be an executive producer on the upcoming live-action adaptation of Moana but would not reprise the titular role. She stated in 2024 that "it feels really important to me to pass the baton to the next young woman of Pacific Island descent".^[31]

In April 2020, Cravalho came out as bisexual.^[32] In January 2024, Cravalho revealed that she has Ehlers–Danlos syndrome.^[33]

In light of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Cravalho signed an open letter addressed to US president Joe Biden, calling for a ceasefire.^[34]