Woman Crush Wednesday: Auli’i Cravalho Goes Above and to the Great Beyond in ‘Darby and the Dead’

We hope you’ve recovered from your Thanksgiving food comas and that you’re now feeling festive and merry as we approach December and the holiday season! But since November isn’t quite over yet, we’re serving up one last thing for you to feast on in the form of this month’s final Woman Crush Wednesday. This week, we’re talking about an amazing actress and singer who majorly made her mark on the entertainment industry with her debut role in 2016, and who has continued to delight, serenade, and move audiences all over the world ever since. So, without further ado, give it up for your WCW, the outstanding Auli’i Cravalho!

WHO’S THAT GAL: Auli’i Cravalho

WHY WE’RE CRUSHING: Cravalho plays Capri Donahue in upcoming Hulu Original title Darby and the Dead, which premieres on the platform this Friday, on December 2. The supernatural teen comedy film revolves around the titular Darby Harper (Riele Downs), who gained the ability to see dead people after a near-death experience she had as a kid. Her introverted life spent counseling the lonely spirits only she can see suddenly comes to an end, however, after the sudden and unexpected death of her high school’s Queen Bee, Capri (Cravalho), who urges Darby to do whatever it takes to make sure she still gets the epic Sweet 17 birthday she was planning to celebrate before her untimely demise.

In trying to please the undead diva, Darby faces her biggest challenge yet as she is forced to shed her loner tendencies and reclaim her place and happiness amongst the living. See Cravalho, Downs, Chosen Jacobs, Asher Angel, Wayne Knight, Derek Luke, Tony Danza, and Nicole Maines kill it in Darby and the Dead as soon as it premieres this week, only on Hulu.

WHERE YOU’VE SEEN HER BEFORE: Cravalho’s professional onscreen career began in 2016, when, at just 16 years of age, she landed the role of the titular heroine in Academy Award-nominated animated musical adventure film Moana, instantly making her a household name and young talent to keep an eye on. From there, she reprised her voice acting role as Moana in 2017 animated short film Moana: Gone Fishing and in 2018 animated comedy film Ralph Breaks the Internet, in addition to taking on brand new work playing Lilette Suarez in NBC musical drama series Rise, Rayna Perez in an episode of YouTube Premium anthology series Weird City, Ariel in ABC’s 2019 production of the musical special The Little Mermaid Live!, and Veronica in an episode of animated Disney Channel adventure series Elena of Avalor.

Most recently, Cravalho has starred as Amber Appleton in 2020 film All Together Now, AJ Campos in coming-of-age romantic comedy Crush, multiple characters in different episodes of drama series Acting for a Cause, and Moana in the 2022 family adventure video game Disney Dreamlight Valley. Clearly, Cravalho is an incredibly gifted and hard-working performer who has already achieved so much in her 22 years of life, and we can’t wait to see all that she continues to pursue and achieve in the years ahead.

WHERE YOU’LL SEE HER AGAIN: Luckily, you don’t have to wait too much longer to see more from Cravalho. The actress is set to star in three different TV series expected to come out within the next few years, playing Hailey Banks in animated adventure comedy Hailey’s on It!, Moana in animated adventure comedy Moana, and Jos Cleary-Lopez in live-action thriller drama The Power. She is also set to star alongside Stephanie J. Block, Joe Gillis, and Nathan Gunn in musical Sunset Boulevard from February 1–8, 2023 at Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater in Washington D.C.

For even more from Cravalho in the meantime, be sure to follow her now on Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, and TikTok so that you never miss a moment from your wonderful WCW!