Moana star Auli’i Cravalho didn’t think she needed to come out as bisexual: ‘I’ve had girlfriends’
Auliʻi Cravalho played Moana in the eponymous Disney film. (Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage via Getty)
Moana star Auli’i Cravalho reflected on her momentous coming out, saying didn’t think it was “necessary” for her to publicly announce she’s bisexual.
The Disney actor and singer came out as bisexual on TikTok in April 2020, but she didn’t expect the wave of media attention that followed.
“The funniest part to me was that I had girlfriends in high school,” Cravalho, 20, told Entertainment Weekly.
“I think girls are great, but I wouldn’t think that it was necessary to come out.”
Auli’i Cravalho said that after coming out as bisexual, she received countless supportive messages from people she “hadn’t talked to in a long time”.
She received messages like: “Wow, that’s really great. I wouldn’t have the confidence to come out like you did in a TikTok, but hey, way to be real Gen-Z about it and push forward into the future.”
While the Moana actor is proud to be bisexual – and delighted with the positive response she received upon coming out – she also said she has a lot to learn about other LGBT+ identities.
“I still sometimes slip up even with my friends, of integrating ‘they/them’ into sentences, because I’m so used to this binary of ‘he or she,'” Cravalho explained.
“I”m glad that these terms are being used in film, because that’s just going to help me and help others use it in their daily lives.”
Moana‘s Auli’i Cravalho has started getting offered LGBT+ roles since coming out
Elsewhere in the interview, Auli’i Cravalho spoke of her pride at being offered gay and bisexual roles since she came out last year.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, finally, this next generation is going to be so much more inclusive,” Cravalho said.
“If you’re playing someone who is part of the LGBTQ spectrum, that isn’t just the storyline. There’s so much more to them.
“We are straight-A students. We are avid readers. We have these wild imaginations. We don’t know what the heck we’re doing, but also don’t just show us in the light of ‘My sexuality is this burden’, because it’s not. It is so joyful.”
Cravalho came out on TikTok in April 2020 by lip-syncing to Eminem’s song “Those Kida Nights”, which includes the lyric: “Seriously though, jokes aside, how you doin’? You straight? She said, ‘No, I’m bi.'”
She was quickly met with an outpouring of love from queer fans, with many praising her for the low-key coming-out moment.
