Dwayne Johnson’s stunning Maui transformation for Moana live-action remake

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is turning heads with his transformation into Maui for the live-action remake of Disney's Moana.

The 55-year-old was spotted in full costume as his character Maui while filming the live-action remake of Disney's Moana in Hawaii, and he looked nearly identical to his animated counterpart, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

During the Nov. 21 shooting day, Dwayne went shirtless—showing off his abs and full chest of tattoos—while rocking a traditional Ti leaf skirt and forearm guards. He topped off the 'fit by donning a whale-tooth necklace and tying his long wig in a half-up hair style.

And those aren't the only signature Maui items that the Red One star—who also voices the demigod sidekick in the 2016 animated original and its upcoming sequel—was spotted sporting. At one point, Dwayne was also seen carrying his character's trademark fishhook.

And while the rest of the costumes have yet to be unveiled, the cast set to join Dwayne on set has been revealed. Back in June, Disney announced that Catherine Laga’aia would take on the titular role of Moana, while John Tui will play her father Chief Tui. Plus, Frankie Adams will portray Moana’s mother Sina and Rena Owen is stepping in as Gramma Tala.

For Catherine, she's most excited for the opportunity to tell such an empowering story through the live-action version, which is slated to be released July 10, 2026.

"I’m honored to have an opportunity to celebrate Samoa and all Pacific Island peoples," she shared in a June statement to Disney, "and to represent young girls who look like me.”



As for Dwayne? The former WWE star—who is dad to daughters Jasmine, 8, and Tiana, 6, with wife Lauren Hashian, as well as daughter Simone, 23, with ex Dany Garcia—echoed Catherine's sentiment that inspiring young girls to see how far they can go is an important theme throughout the franchise.

"I think that the main thing about Moana is this idea of female empowerment," Dwayne previously told E! News, "and this idea that we always say, ‘What's it like being on the reef and looking beyond the reef?'"



In fact, he's really impressed with how Moana 2, which hits theaters Nov. 27, expands upon that idea.

"It's this idea that what people like to do—especially to young girls—is kind of constrain them," he continued, "and pretzel them into, ‘You can only be so much.' But in Moana 2, you can actually be anything you want."

News.Az