Auli’i Cravalho, the 16-year old voice of Moana, has been cast as a lead in a new TV series
The native Hawiian is quickly becoming the young princess around the world, beyond Disney.
Life has been more than a bump on the head for Auli’i Cravalho.
The 16-year-old who voices Moana in the Oscar nominated Disney Animation film has gotten to work with celebs like Dwayne Johnson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, make kid’s dreams come true on Ellen, and perform in front of the world on the Oscars last Sunday (and who really got bumped in the head mid-performance).
That performance was viewed by millions of people, including Hollywood executives. And many of these execs are always looking for the next leading lady, no matter how young they are. Cravalho told DisneyExaminer in an interview during the “Moana” press tour that she was already having discussions about what she’ll do next, but couldn’t tell us more about it.
It turns out that among those discussions was an opportunity to be a part of an upcoming TV show. Today, Deadline shared the full news that Cravalho was casted in an upcoming TV drama pilot for NBC. In the show, Drama High, she’ll be playing a high school girl who takes part in a class taught a high school drama teacher who has been successful at teaching and leading his students and inspiring the entire town. Written by Michael Sokolove, the story is inspired by the book written by Sokolove about his high school drama teacher Lou Volpe. Think Fox’s “Glee,” but on NBC.
Additionally, Cravalho’s character is actually a lead in the potential series, making her the next in line of what is already an up and coming stream of Asian/Pacific Islander talent who are getting the spotlight in Hollywood.
Filming of the pilot episode will happen in a few months, but there is no word yet on when it will debuted as part of NBC’s primetime schedule, if at all. It has yet to be a full drama series, which won’t happen until NBC execs like what they see in the pilot and order the whole series.
Edited on 3/1/17.
