Johnson and director Thomas Kail talk about turning the animated modern classic into a live-action epic.

How Dwayne Johnson became live-action Maui for Moana, from ‘40 pounds of prosthetics’ to honoring his heritage* *(exclusive)

Johnson and director Thomas Kail talk about turning the animated modern classic into a live-action epic.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in Vanity Fair, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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March 23, 2026 12:01 p.m. ET

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Dwayne Johnson as live-action Maui in 'Moana'. Credit:

- The new live-action *Moana* trailer reveals a first look at Dwayne Johnson as Maui.

- The star discusses the "40 pounds" of prosthetics he wore on set for the role: "It was grueling because of the [body]suit and how hot it was."

- Director Thomas Kail talks about the why behind making a live-action *Moana*, releasing 10 years after the animated original.

Hair is very important to Maui — shapeshifter, Demigod of the wind and sea, hero of men and women — from Disney's *Moana*. His mana, his spiritual energy, is tied to his presence, and luscious locks play a big part in that.

"As a wayfinder, you can just see him on the back of the canoe with the wind blowing," Thomas Kail, the director of the live-action *Moana*, tells **.

When transforming Dwayne Johnson, the voice of Maui in 2016's animated *Moana* and the 2024 sequel, into the character of legend for the live-action version of this epic tale, the wig became paramount. "We knew that it had to be something that could have real lift to it," Kail explains. "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."

Disney's new trailer (below) for the live-action *Moana*, coming to theaters this July 10, shows a first look at Johnson's full Maui transformation, a process he found both grueling and rewarding.

"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," the star exclusively tells EW of the bodysuit he wore for the role. "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."

The reward was what the process meant to him personally. The story of live-action *Moana* is the same as the animated original, which centered Polynesian culture and traditions. Played now by Catherine Lagaʻaia, the daughter to Motunui chieftain Tui (John Tui) is chosen by the ocean itself to journey across the sea to return the heart of the goddess Te Fiti, which Maui stole thousands of years ago.

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Johnson speaks over Zoom from Hawaii, sitting outside with a clear view of the water and palm trees tilting in the breeze. He reflects on his grandfather, pioneering Samoan wrestler "High Chief" Peter Maivia. "Even in the world of professional wrestling at that time in the '70s was a subculture that was not covered at all by media," Johnson says. "It was looked down on by the majority. Yet, anytime he had some sort of recognition, even a crumb of it, it was like, yes, that's our culture."

His father, too, WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Rocky "Soulman" Johnson, broke barriers during his time in the ring. And that history is top of mind for Johnson now. "You go from that to *Moana* and this story that has really been globally embraced in this moving way," he says, "but also part of something that is so emboldening and empowering to kids and adults, because it's this idea of looking beyond the reef that you can't see, and life gets scary and sometimes you gotta take risks and hold onto faith while you do it. So that's why I feel this really special connection and pride and then gratitude to be here."

Catherine Laga'aia as Moana in Disney's live-action 'Moana'.

courtesy of Disney

It's a big part of the *why* fueling the live-action *Moana*. Why remake a film that's still endlessly rewatched by kids and adults alike, and only 10 years after the original became a global phenomenon? Kail acknowledges the animated *Moana* "is in people's molecules," including his own.

"How do you honor this? How do you say 'we love it too' and make it something that can be a companion and not try to be the same thing, but also trust what works?" he comments. "The opportunity to have flesh and blood and have human beings tell the story and sing these songs and be in this world, there's something so fundamentally different about that experience of watching and feeling that."

"We were doing our best to make sure that we were always representing our Polynesian culture in every department," Johnson notes. "Some department heads, story, development, just everything."

Kail hails from the world of theater, having worked on *Hamilton* (which he filmed for the Disney+ release) and *In the Heights*, and he approached live-action *Moana* as a full-fledged musical production.

Catherine Laga'aia on the set of Disney's live-action 'Moana'.

courtesy of Disney

He was working on the latter with Lin-Manuel Miranda when the *Moana* composer started writing music for the animated blockbuster-in-the-making. "Then, there I was, eight, nine years later, sitting next to him in a real village," he says, referring to how they built Motunui practically for the live-action film. "It's like site-specific theater. You just feel like we're dropped in the middle of this place."

Johnson had about four weeks to prepare for the new *Moana* after making Benny Safdie's *The Smashing Machine* (2025), for which he gained 40 pounds, taking him to 282 at the time. However, also on the horizon was (and still is) *Lizard Music*, another Safdie film for which he needed to lose 50 pounds to play an eccentric Chicken Man. "I'm 235 pounds now, and I think I'll go on to [shoot] Chicken Man at about this weight," he mentions.

The challenge for *Moana* became maintaining his physique. "Maui was a big guy, and I couldn't lose the weight because when you lose weight, you lose it here," he says, pointing to his neck. "I couldn't have a big bodysuit and then a small little skinny neck. Forty, 50 pounds is a lot to put on. Then it's a lot to maintain for months... It was grueling because of the suit and how hot it was. Wait till you see pictures. In between takes, there's literally five, six people, all [with] fans, opening me up, pulling my hair back."

Makeup designer Joel Harlow (Oscar winner for 2009's *Star Trek*) designed the bodysuit for Johnson, based on molds of the actor's body. The prosthetics came out of conversations about how to render the animation for Mini Maui, Maui's tattoo version of himself who dances around his chest and serves as this Jiminy Cricket figure for the Demigod.

Catherine Laga'aia as Moana in Disney's live-action 'Moana'.

courtesy of Disney

Between the bodysuit and the wig, Johnson estimates it took "about two and a half hours every day" to transform into Maui.

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"There was an idea that maybe we were gonna do this whole thing with visual effects, body and everything," he recalls, "but then there's also a tactile, emotional resonance when it's a real bodysuit. It moves and breathes with you. So we thought the best iteration of this was, let's go for it, let's challenge Joel, and he rose to the occasion."

Johnson didn't fully understand how performing Maui in live-action would affect him until he felt it on the first day of filming. "I realized this character, playing Maui," he explains — and not just because of the legacy of the animated film.

"Also, you realize that you're representing cultures and people who came before you who were voyagers, they were warriors, they were slaves, in many cases they had the language taken away, in many cases had their land stolen but got it back, persevered," he continues. "And through all that, there's still an inherent love and joy of Polynesian culture with Polynesian people. There's still this pride and joy and this idea of community and culture and sharing, as opposed to gatekeeping. We all share in this. We all share it together. So you feel that responsibility, and it does hit differently."

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