Auli’i Cravalho Talks Disney Channel’s ‘Hailey’s On It!,’ Says ‘Moana’ ‘Unlocked a Voiceover Beast In Me’ (Exclusive)

School bully? First crush? Saving the world? No matter the problem, Auli’i Cravalho has it covered as Hailey Banks in the upcoming animated comedy-adventure Hailey’s On It! It follows Hailey, a tenacious, resourceful teenager who is afraid to take risks, but is determined to accomplish each of her challenging – and sometimes impractical – tasks as part of the mission to save the world (such as winning a sand-building competition, performing in a school musical, wrestling a honey badger, or facing her complicated feelings toward her best friend, Scott – voiced by Manny Jacinto). The show marks Cravalho’s first time voicing a lead animated character since Disney‘s Moana (she also sings several songs in the first season), and the singer/actress said she couldn’t stay away from the voiceover booth. 

“Well, I love voiceover work,” Cravalho said. “My first job was Moana, and it unlocked a voiceover beast in me. I love getting into the booth and fully immersing myself in a character. Closing my eyes. Making any kind of weird faces, weird hand motions, and just telling a story through my voice, it brings me intense joy. So I’ve also been lucky enough to continue to voice characters that are young women of color that aren’t afraid to take risks, trust in themselves, and have a wonderful support system of family and friends.”

“And our series also has like really fun sci-fi,” she added. “Hailey kicks some serious, like chaos bot butt, and she’s also singing in it, like this series really had everything. It blew me away.” 

Hailey’s On It! mixes genres with a wide-ranging cast of diverse characters interacting in stories that Cravalho said even parents can enjoy. “I would say that my favorite aspect of Hailey’s On It! is just how clever the writing is and how cerebral my character is. Like the sci-fi elements play right into the rest of our storyline. Adults are gonna watch this just as much as kids are. Parents are gonna be watching this along with their kids. We have done a sitcom episode. We’ve taken references from Seinfeld. It does span the ages, which excites me.” 

The series also emphasizes the importance of stepping out of one’s comfort zone and facing one’s fears, which Cravalho hopes she can relay to teens and tweens who watch the show. “I hope that all young people take away from Hailey’s On It!, that we should all have a bucket list in that we should all have dreams and like weird, wacky things that we enjoy doing,” Cravalho said. “Hailey loves building birdhouses, and she’s also super into tech and women in stem. I love her for that.”

She added, “And I think it’s really great that we get to see a character enjoy geeking out about the things that she loves and being supported by her friends and family and being quirky and funny. And also her saving the world. She gets visited by a scientist from the future who’s like, ‘If you finish everything on your list of things that you really want to do, you’re going to save the world by fixing climate change.’ That’s the premise. President Serena Williams tasks her with solving climate change. I love that logline.

“At least when I was young, you don’t fully realize, oh, like — am I going to be important? Like, am I going to be someone who’s really special in the future? And the answer is yes,” Cravalho said. “There are so many incredible things that you are going to do with your life. And in our series, it’s unique that she’s visited by someone from the future to tell her that. But if more young people knew just the kind of positive impact they would have on the world — if they take that away from our series, that’s a chef’s kiss. That’s what we want.”

The multi-talented star has another song-infused project in the works. Cravalho plays Janis Sarkisian in the upcoming Mean Girls: The Musical, an adaptation of the Broadway production which wrapped filming not long ago. “It was a lot of fun,” Cravalho said. “It was a lot of singing and choreography. And I play the guitar in it, so I had to learn how to play electric guitar. So it was a fast and furious shooting time. And we were in New Jersey. And at certain points we were cheating that we were shooting in Africa. So, there it was fantastical. But we get to have a 2023 remake of the 2004 film that we all love and then we also get to throw some music on it and make it even more camp, which I personally really love.” 

Hailey’s On It! premieres June 8 on Disney Channel and is available the next day on Disney+.