Catherine Laga'aia Bintangi Film Live Action Moana dari Disney

Aktris remaja asal Australia, Catherine Laga'aia, resmi membuat debut layar lebarnya dengan memerankan karakter utama dalam film live-action Moana produksi Disney yang mulai tayang di bioskop pada Jumat, 10 Juli 2026.

Remaja berusia 19 tahun tersebut berhasil mendapatkan peran ikonik ini setelah melalui proses audisi ketat yang diikuti oleh sekitar 32.000 aktris, termasuk saudara-saudara kandungnya sendiri. Laga'aia sempat menyembunyikan kabar kelulusannya dari teman-teman sekolahnya karena terikat perjanjian kerahasiaan sebelum pengumuman resmi Disney dirilis.

"I just disappeared," kata Laga'aia seperti dilansir dari USA Today.

Saking mendadaknya hilangnya Laga'aia dari sekolah seni pertunjukan tempatnya belajar, teman-temannya sempat mengira kabar tersebut merupakan hasil rekayasa kecerdasan buatan (AI).

"Nobody knew where I went. The rumors were insane on what I'd been doing and where I'd gone. … I was in the hair and makeup trailer for a screen test when I got announced, and people were DMing me, being like, 'Girl, this is AI.' My dad's always making stupid AI stuff, so they're like: 'This is really lame, Katie.

This isn't funny.' I was like, look at the Disney account!" ujar Laga'aia menceritakan reaksi teman-temannya.

Sebelum mendapatkan peran besar ini, Laga'aia merupakan seorang pekerja di Target dan hanya memiliki sedikit pengalaman akting, seperti tampil di beberapa iklan dan beberapa episode serial "The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart". Ayahnya, Jay Laga'aia, merupakan aktor senior yang pernah berperan dalam prekuel Star Wars, sementara saudara-saudaranya aktif dalam produksi teater di Australia.

"He knows how ruthless this industry can be, and you're going to get 1,000 more nos than you are yeses," tutur Laga'aia mengenai kekhawatiran ayahnya.

Laga'aia bahkan sempat ragu untuk mendaftar audisi karena menganggap peluangnya sangat kecil, namun dorongan dari ibunya membuat ia berani mencoba.

"I worked at Target," canda Laga'aia yang menyebut dirinya kurang cekatan saat bekerja di sana.

Ia juga mengingat momen ketidakpastian saat pemogokan pekerja Hollywood pada tahun 2023 yang sempat membuat proyek film ini sunyi tanpa kabar.

"To me, it felt like putting in for the lottery. The chances of me getting it are so poor that I'm just hurting my feelings for no reason. But my mom was adamant.

She's like, 'You'll never know unless you try.' So then I had to buck up and do it," jelas Laga'aia.

Proses audisi yang panjang sempat membuatnya lupa jumlah pasti tahapan yang telah ia lalui sebelum akhirnya terpilih.

"I change the number depending on who I'm trying to impress," kelakar Laga'aia.

Ketakutan terbesarnya muncul saat harus menyanyikan lagu-lagu ikonik film tersebut, karena ia merasa kemampuan bernyanyinya paling rendah dibanding saudara-saudaranya dan hanya bermodal pengalaman paduan suara sekolah.

"This is never going to happen. They're never going to green-light this again," kenang Laga'aia saat mengira proyek film tersebut batal akibat pemogokan massal.

Kedua saudara perempuannya yang ikut mendaftar audisi tetap memberikan dukungan penuh tanpa ada rasa sakit hati.

"Both of them were so excited," ungkap Laga'aia.

Laga'aia menceritakan pengalamannya terdahulu saat ia justru gagal terpilih dalam proyek yang melibatkan saudara-saudaranya.

"There was a job we went for where we were auditioning to play my dad's three kids. They wanted three girls, and they picked my two sisters and not me," cerita Laga'aia.

Penolakan di masa lalu itu sempat membuatnya sedih karena alasan penampilan fisik yang dinilai berbeda.

"They were like, 'Sorry, you don't look enough like your sisters.' They cast another girl in that middle spot, and I remember that cut me deep," tambah Laga'aia.

Terkait kemampuannya bernyanyi untuk lagu seperti "How Far I'll Go", Laga'aia awalnya mengira suaranya akan diisi oleh orang lain.

"by far the worst singer," aku Laga'aia tentang kualitas vokalnya dibanding saudara-saudaranya.

Ia bahkan sempat menangis karena tidak terbiasa mendengarkan rekaman suaranya sendiri saat pertama kali diputar.

"I thought they would just dub me with somebody else," aku Laga'aia.

Namun, proses adaptasi tersebut perlahan membuatnya mulai terbiasa dan menerima kualitas suaranya sendiri.

"Now, I'm kind of OK with it," kata Laga'aia.

Auli'i Cravalho, pengisi suara asli Moana dalam versi animasi tahun 2016, bertindak sebagai produser dalam film live-action ini dan memberikan sambutan hangat kepada Laga'aia.

"She's one of the main advocates to get more Pacific Islander faces, and more people of color, onto screens, and the fact that she was willing to go: 'You know what? This is an opportunity for somebody else to have that incredible experience and exposure,' and she was willing to take that step back and step into that [producing] role, I think that speaks to who she is," puji Laga'aia terhadap Cravalho.

Proses syuting di Amerika Serikat sempat membuatnya merasa terisolasi karena harus jauh dari keluarganya yang besar di Australia.

"It was little things, like, I don't understand how the shopping mart works," keluh Laga'aia mengenai perbedaan budaya yang dialaminya.

Kendala-kendala kecil seperti arah mengemudi jalan dan sistem kereta belanja membuatnya merasa kebingungan seperti karakter Moana di atas perahu.

"I don't know where to put my trolley. We drive on the other side of the road. It was having no sense of where I was and what I was doing, very similar to Moana being out on that boat," ucap Laga'aia.

Meski demikian, pengalaman ini membantunya berkembang dan melewati batasan-batasan kemampuan dirinya.

"There many things where I was like, 'This is a hard boundary. I can't push past this,' " aku Laga'aia.

Dukungan positif dari lingkungan kerja membantunya untuk terus melangkah maju menghadapi tantangan peran tersebut.

"But with time and practice, and a lot of positive reinforcement and support, I was like, 'You know what? I'll just push it a little bit. I'll push a little further. OK, I'm going to push a little harder,' until I was just kind of running through walls," pungkas Laga'aia.

Di sisi lain, komposer musik Lin-Manuel Miranda mengungkapkan kepada PEOPLE dalam acara penayangan khusus di New York pada 9 Juli bahwa proyek Moana versi animasi dahulu telah menyelamatkan hidupnya di tengah tekanan popularitas drama Broadway "Hamilton".

"It's not an accident those came so close together," jelas Miranda.

Miranda menulis sebagian besar lagu Moana di kamar ganti Richard Rogers Theater sebelum pertunjukan Hamilton dimulai.

"I was hired for Moana before Hamilton debuted. I wrote most of Moana in my dressing room at the Richard Rogers Theater. And so I think Moana saved my life," kata Miranda.

Tuntutan tenggat waktu pengerjaan musik untuk Disney diakuinya menjaga dirinya tetap rendah hati dan waras menghadapi perhatian dunia yang masif saat itu.

"At a time when the world was putting a lot of attention on all of us, I think we all reacted to the pressure in different ways. I stayed grounded because I had songs due for Moana. I had to figure out how to get her beyond the reef," tambah Miranda.

Meskipun tidak terlibat dalam proyek animasi Moana 2 karena awalnya direncanakan sebagai serial TV, Miranda kembali untuk film live-action ini setelah sutradara Thomas Kail ditunjuk memimpin proyek.

"There was never an opportunity to be on Moana 2. That was a TV series that became a movie, and so they already had their songwriters," tutur Miranda.

Dalam versi live-action ini, Miranda menulis lagu baru berjudul "Along the Way" yang menggabungkan vokal Catherine Laga'aia, Auli'i Cravalho, dan Dwayne Johnson.

"Tommy and I are always working together, whether we're working on the same thing or not," ujar Miranda tentang hubungannya dengan sutradara Thomas Kail.

Ide pembuatan lagu trio tersebut datang dari Thomas Kail yang melihat momentum unik bertemunya dua pemeran Moana dalam satu proyek film.

"Tommy was like, you know, we're in a unique position in that two Moanas exist right now. And one of them is a producer on our film, and she's an incredibly talented adult," sebut Miranda mengikuti perkataan Kail.

Miranda langsung menyetujui ide tersebut dan berhasil menyelesaikan bagian bait serta refrain lagu hanya dalam beberapa jam saja.

"There are two people in the world who know what it feels like to play Moana, and one can give advice and pass the torch to the other," lanjut Miranda.

Mengenai kelanjutan proyek Moana 3 yang kabarnya sudah dikonfirmasi oleh Dwayne Johnson untuk masuk tahap produksi, Miranda berkelakar ingin melihat sekuel tersebut berkembang luas.

"I say go make 10 Moana movies. I want Moana 3 to be called Tokyo Drift. I want Moana Hobbs and Shaw.

I want The Fate of Moana. Bring it on," canda Miranda.