I’m still on cloud 9 after my Moana press trip and if you can believe it, there’s more! One of my bucket-list items that I haven’t told you about was meeting iconic directors John Clements and Ron Musker. I’ve talked a little about their interviews in my other posts but I’ve dive more into that soon. But today we’ve got to talk about Nicole Scherzinger.

You may remember her as being a member of the Pussy Cat Dolls band. I loved a couple of their songs. Pretty sure I was obsessed with them around the same time as Danity Kane and all of Diddy’s Making The Band shows.

In Moana Scherzinger plays the role of Sina–Moana’s mom.

*spoiler alert* SHE LIVES! Unlike most other Disney moms. Sina makes it to the end.

Sitting down to chat with her was interesting to me for several reasons. For one, I’m so fascinated with how the casting process goes for these movies. And after talking with Nicole I’ve decided my new major goal in life (besides meeting Oprah, learning piano and becoming fluent in Spanish) is to be a voice in a Disney movie. I don’t care if I have one line. And obviously I won’t be singing. But I have got to make that happen before I die.

When it came to Scherzinger having a role in Moana she said it something she not only wanted to do, but something she had to do–Feeling tied so closely to her culture. I really wanted to ask if originally she’d hoped/wanted/thought she’d get the role of Moana herself, seeing how all of the other Disney princess voice actors go to stars like herself–But she seemed so happy and proud of her role that it didn’t even come to mind during the interview.

She told us how proud she is of how the movie turned out.

“It wasn’t a love story, it was a heroine story about a young girl’s journey, which we can all relate to about. Discovering who we really are and what we’re meant for. What our purpose and our destiny is. And that’s a beautiful story, and then I have the honor of playing Moana’s mother, Sina.”

A huge thing I love about Moana is how infused it is with Polynesian culture. I feel weird saying that not being Polynesian but Nicole agrees and told us feeling that way is totally cool.

“To- to hear the music and have the spirit and have the beauty of the Islands where you’re from and- and the real spirit and energy of the Islands. They always say you don’t have to be Hawaiian. You can be Hawaiian at heart, you know.”

So basically I’m a Hawaiian at heart. It speaks to me.

Nicole and I also share a musical idol–Whitney Houston, and when she talked about going for her dreams I felt so inspired and in total agreement.

“We’re all made for a purpose. A great purpose,” She said. “And I haven’t got there yet. I kept- I came up with this because in interviews people are- are usually like, wow, you’ve done so

much. You know, what is there left to do? And I’m like, that’s funny, ‘cause I feel like I’m just scratching at the surface and I’m just using a fraction of my potential.”

Amen sista! Cheers to unlocking our ambitions, achieving our dreams and finding out who we’re meant to be–A lot like Moana!

Now in theaters! Go see it!

Tags: disney, Moana