Dwayne Johnson pulled out all the stops in order to transform into Maui for the upcoming live-action Moana.
The actor, who has voiced the larger-than-life demigod in two Moana animated Disney films, recently confirmed to Extra that he wore a bodysuit to make his physique more realistic to Maui’s in the Thomas Kail-directed movie, set for release in 2026.
“That’s a suit that took a long time to put on,” Johnson said. “So, I’m so happy you said, ‘You bulked up,’ because when you say, ‘You bulked up,’ that means you couldn’t tell.”
Photos from the filming set were previously leaked by paparazzi, igniting a debate on social media as to whether the actor, who already has a very muscular build, was wearing a bodysuit. In the images, Johnson was spotted with a notably demigod-sized physique as well as all of Maui’s tattoos.
But Johnson clarified that it actually took “a couple of hours every day of transforming, putting that on” to fully become the beloved character.
“We shot outside and when those pictures surfaced, I was like, ‘Shit, we got caught,’ cause we were putting up, like, walls so there was no paparazzi,” the actor added of the photos getting leaked. “But they got into boats and started shooting pictures.”
Johnson voiced Maui in 2016’s Moana and Moana 2, which released this week. The sequel is already making history with the biggest Thanksgiving opening of all time for the five-day holiday, among other records.
As for the live-action movie, Johnson will star opposite newcomer Catherine Laga‘aia, who is taking on the titular character. Auli‘i Cravalho voiced Moana in the animated films. The Red One actor added that working on the live-action project was “eye-opening.”
“I did have a handle on who Maui is. I know the voice, I know the man, I know his inspiration. I can access things, I got it,” Johnson explained. “The moment I stepped on set as live-action Maui, I realized right away, oh wow, this is different in terms of, this is real flesh and blood and skin and bones and it becomes real all of a sudden.”
