Anna Deleon Guerrero poses outside the dance studio where final callbacks were taking place for the live action “Moana” movie.
FRIENDS of the Arts alumna Anna Rose Deleon Guerrero auditioned for the live action “Moana” movie, set to hit theaters in 2026.
She aimed to be featured as a dancer in the movie.
She said the process began online with around 3,000 vying for the role. Casting directors whittled that number down to 1,000 and invited Deleon Guerrero to participate in an in-person audition in Los Angeles.
There, Deleon Guerrero learned the choreography of Tiana Nonosina Liufau, the motion curator and choreographer of the original animated “Moana” film.
Deleon Guerrero said she went through three rounds of “callback” sessions during which film casting staff refined the number of dancers who could audition.
“They had dancer auditions in both Los Angeles and Oahu and, at my audition, over 700 dancers showed up. In Hawaii and LA combined, over 1,600 dancers auditioned for this movie,” Deleon Guerrero said. “From the LA dancers, I was one of around 50 women who were called back for a final round.”
She was not able to land a role in the film, but Deleon Guerrero looks at it as a moment of growth.
“I would not trade this experience for anything. I learned so much,” she says. “It was an experience that taught me new things, but reminded me of things I’d forgotten — namely, that I am enough exactly as I am. I have nothing to prove. Only to share…I wanted to share this because it’s okay to be scared of the unknown. But you’re far more capable than you think. Just show up — you may surprise yourself.”
Her message to CNMI residents is to leave their comfort zones.
“I like to share my experiences because I think it may encourage others at home to do something that feels scary, because you never know what you may get out of it,” she said. “I didn’t get this job, but I made it all the way through final callbacks for a Hollywood film. I never thought that would happen!”
Aside from her work with Friends of the Arts in the CNMI, Deleon Guerrero also competed in thespian competitions locally and nationally.
She was a behind-the-scenes employee at Walt Disney World and an onstage talent at Universal Studios Orlando at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Northern Kentucky University.
She said she is thankful for the knowledge shared by her late Kumu Hula Kau’ihealani Mahikoa Brandt, as well as Agnes Kohumoetini and Celia Mercado of Tekanahau Nui and Irma Scallamera of Pua Hinano, who taught her native dances from Tahiti and the Cook Islands.
According to People magazine, “Moana,” the live action movie, will star Australian actress Catherine Laga’aia as the titular character, with Dwane Johnson reprising his role from the animated film as Maui.
The movie is slated to be released on July 10, 2026.
