‘When there’s a drought, pivot’
Auli’i Cravalho is only 24 years old, but already ten years have passed in his career and he has changed his profession many times.
Cravalho made her Hollywood debut in 2016’s “Moana” and has since made her mark in other films and TV roles, including 2024’s “Mean Girls” and as Sally Bowles in Broadway’s “Cabaret.”
However, he does not always get the roles he wants most.
“The best way for me to get through this is one: time and two: realizing that the young woman who takes on this role is just like me, very different from me, but just like me,” Cravalho told CNBC Make It at ZCON, a Gen Z-focused conference hosted by United Talent Agency.
“How can I feel sorry for a girl who works in the background to get exactly where she needs to be?” he added. “And if it isn’t for me, then so be it and let it go.”
Behind the scenes, Cravalho began producing, including serving as an executive producer on the live-action version of “Moana.”
The expansion of his work is by design.
“For many of us [in Hollywood]”The job is seasonal” he said. “When it rains, it pours and then there is drought. When there is drought, pivot.”
He added that it takes time to redirect the focus of your career, and it takes time to be willing to make mistakes and be determined to learn from them.
Returning “took me to a room [and] ‘I don’t know what I don’t know,’ he says. “Let me shut my mouth and just watch and listen and learn,” he said.
This allowed her to build a career based on her interests and passions and find a way to combat the feeling that she had “inherited a burning world,” particularly in her advocacy for climate change and ocean conservation.
Cravalho in 2025 co-produced “Reef,” a documentary about one of the world’s largest coral reef restoration programs.
Cravalho emphasized the importance of finding mentors to help you with career changes and urged leaders to offer support to young people taking risks. “[I] “I’m more than ready to fall on my face if someone helps me stand up,” he said.
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