Behind the Waves: We Chatted to Some of the Cast of “Moana 2”

Awhimai Fraser, Temuera Morrison & David Fane were a barrel of laughs

It’s been a few years since the magic of Moana was on the big screens. But now the ocean (or the cinema) is calling us back to watch this princess’s new adventure in Moana 2.

We sat down with the voice actors/actresses, Awhimai Fraser (Matangi), Temuera Morrison (Chief Tui), and David Fane (Kele), from the second film to chat about the world of Polynesian culture, storytelling and behind-the-scenes fun.

Awhimai Fraser plays new character, Matangi.

Shrouded in mystery alongside her entourage of bats and flying foxes, Matangi is a mysterious figure who puts up quite a fight for Moana and Maui in this film.

But perhaps there is more than meets the eye?

Awhimai told Student Edge she was a very interesting and fun character to play.

“She is a larger than life, extraordinary, colourful, eccentric ‘wahine’ who usually has Pecca her bat to chat to,” she said.

“But you know when Moana enters her space, I think that there’s a really interesting thing that happens for her, I won’t give too much away but I think there’s’ a few surprises that happen for this particular character.”

Chief Tui is more chill, but he’s still concerned with Moana’s crew.

In the first film we saw how worried Chief Tui was at the thought of his daughter Moana leaving their island.

In the second film, his character has evolved.

“In the first one he was a little more protective, but this on here it’s all about going beyond, being more tenacious and allowing her to do that,” Temuera, who plays Chief Tui, said.

“A bit worried of course, especially with the selection of crew.”

Temuera is of course joking about David Fane’s character Kele, who is a plant-loving, grumpy older man who finds himself sailing across the seas with Moana.

“I still can’t believe I made it on the crew,” David told us.

On seeing representation on screen.

For all three, being part of a franchise like Moana means more to them because they’re be the representation they never saw on screen growing up.

When we asked them how they felt about it, all three were stoked knowing young people would be able to see themselves represented on screen.

“That’s awesome, to me, I’m just so over the moon with that,” David said.

“That’s our reason, that’s why we’re here doing what we do, telling these stories and standing in these spaces,” Awhimai said.

“You know, feeling the fear and doing it anyways.”

“I remember growing up we never saw brown faces growing up being reflected back in our storytelling and our movies and our television,” Temuera said.

We can safely say we’re stoked to see new representation, for a new generation of students 🫶

Moana 2 and Moana 2 Reo Māori sails into Australian cinemas 28 November.

You can watch this movie in cinemas with our discounted cinema tickets deal!

(Please note: this deal is not available in every state. Check out our other entertainment deals for more)