Dwayne Johnson’s portrayal of Maui in the live-action “Moana” film features the character with a wig, mimicking the animated version’s iconic look. However, early concept art for the animated film depicted Maui as bald, closely resembling Johnson's real-life appearance.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, a key creative force behind “Moana,” shared insights into the character’s development in an interview on Good Morning America. Miranda recalled that in the initial stages of creating the animated movie, artists drew a bald Maui, a decision influenced by the knowledge that Dwayne Johnson would eventually portray the demigod.

It's interesting. I remember in one of the early drawings, while we were making the animated version, they drew a bald version because obviously they knew the Rock was going to play him.

Miranda elaborated that the creative team consulted with cultural advisors who strongly advocated for Maui to have hair. These advisors emphasized that Maui's hair was integral to his spiritual energy and held significant cultural importance.

And our cultural trust was like, 'You can't do that. Maui's power is in his hair, it's part of his mana [spiritual energy].' It's really of cultural importance that Maui's hair be stylin'! So then Dwayne gets this lustrous mane.

Images of these early renderings, obtained by USA Today, show Maui with his traditional tattoos and pendant, but notably without his signature hair. Instead, a prominent tattoo was visible on his head, alongside smaller tattoos on his face and neck, designed to resemble Johnson's features, including his facial structure, eyebrows, and physique. One drawing even depicted Maui making a facial expression similar to Johnson’s portrayal of Black Adam.

Miranda expressed his personal fondness for Maui's long hair, drawing a connection to Johnson’s early film roles. “Listen, I'm a man of a certain age and I remember [Johnson's] film debut in The Scorpion King. So I'm always thinking about his luscious locks and I wanted to get back to that era,” the “Hamilton” creator stated.

Johnson himself has seemingly embraced the visual, even interacting with a TikTok influencer who posted a humorous video about him selling shampoo and conditioner from his personal care brand, Papatui, despite his own famously bald head. Johnson responded to the video with amusement, noting that even a demigod's hair sometimes needs proper care.

Ok this made me belly laugh.. HARD. And hey, sometimes a Demigod's radiant and ravishing hair needs shampoo/conditioner 😜🪝.You're Welcooooome 🎶.

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• Dwayne Johnson
• Character Was
• Animated Film
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• The Scorpion King