Dwayne Johnson is back as Maui, and he’s bringing 40 pounds of prosthetics with him.
Disney released the first full trailer of 2026’s live-action “Moana” on Monday, giving audiences their first clear look as Johnson as the shape-shifting demigod (a role he originated in animation and now returns to in live-action). Notably, the trailer finds The Rock in a flowing wig and tattoo-riddled body prosthetics to play the part.
“The thing that became a challenge, that I had to work through very quickly, that I didn’t anticipate was the prosthetics and the hair and then the body. That is an additional 40 pounds on you,” Johnson told EW. “There’s a freedom when you perform, whether it’s as an actor or singing. So that was an adjustment on how to actually work my emotions through the 40 pounds of prosthetics and hair and body that I had on me.”
Johnson noted that this daily transformation required about two and a half hours in the makeup chair — a process that they at one point considered replacing with digital effects. Director Thomas Kail added that a wet version of Maui’s wig added an additional seven pounds to Johnson’s already-heavy getup.
“We knew that it had to be something that could have real lift to it,” Kail told EW. “Because you’re doing this on the water, ‘What does it look like wet?’ is a real conversation when you’re making ‘Moana.’”
Johnson returns to his popular animated character hot on the heels of “The Smashing Machine,” a heavy dramatic turn from the actor that did not materialize in attention at the Academy Awards. The actor said that he gained 40 pounds to play this part, bringing his weight to 282 pounds. He will soon reunite with “The Smashing Machine” director Benny Safdie for an adaptation of Daniel Pinkwater’s novel “Lizard Music,” in which Johnson will play the Chicken Man. For that role, he had to drop back down to 235 pounds — but not before he got in the suit as Maui.
“Maui was a big guy, and I couldn’t lose the weight because when you lose weight, you lose it here,” he told EW, pointing to his neck. “I couldn’t have a big bodysuit and then a small little skinny neck. Forty, 50 pounds is a lot to put on. Then it’s a lot to maintain for months … It was grueling because of the suit and how hot it was. Wait till you see pictures. In between takes, there’s literally five, six people, all (with) fans, opening me up, pulling my hair back.”
Thus far, reaction to the look has been pretty unkind. Soon after the “Moana” trailer released online, social media flooded with critics of the live-action adaptation, with many taking Johnson’s wig particularly to task.
“Hundreds of millions of dollars wasted so Dwayne Johnson can don a terrible wig and deliver the same lines but with worse timing. New low for the corporate slopmongers,” said @Schaffrillas. “Can’t even make it past the two min mark of this trailer, I don’t need to see anything from the last 19 seconds.”
You can find more reactions below.
“Moana” releases in theaters on July 10. You can watch the trailer below.
