Moana's Auli'i Cravalho walks red carpet with bloody handprint smeared across her face
The handprint had a very important message behind it
Actor Auli'i Cravalho, the voice of Disney’s Moana, unveiled a striking red carpet look while promoting her new show - and it turns out there’s a powerful reason behind her fashion choice.
Cravalho was attending the premiere of her new Amazon Prime series The Power, an adaptation of Naomi Alderman's novel which imagines a future where women suddenly develop the power to deliver deadly electric shocks and use it to turn the tables on their male oppressors.
You can watch the trailer here:
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The series stars big names such as Hereditary’s Toni Collette and Ted Lasso’s Toheeb Jimoh, but all eyes were on Cravalho on the red carpet, who sported a bloody handprint across her face.
Her look attracted mixed reactions on social media.
Some loved it, while others weren’t convinced, with one writing: “She ate a red pomegranate and did not clean her face or hands.”
Cravalho plays Jos in The Power, the daughter of Collette’s politician who grows from an awkward teen to a revolutionary leader.
It turns out she actually had a very important reason for her unconventional appearance.
Speaking to Good Morning America, she explained: “I am representing No More Stolen Sisters. It is about missing and murdered indigenous women.
“We were lucky enough to shoot in Vancouver for this series. And I saw many a monument dedicated to them.
“Indigenous women are 10 times more likely to be kidnapped or abducted and it is incredibly frustrating that there are not enough cases that are actually followed up with, and it points to police and how they are not using their funds correctly.”
Cravalho, who is Native Hawaiian and brought the first Polynesian Disney princess to life onscreen, added that she ‘just really wanted to bring awareness to a movement when we are at a female empowered event, and showing such wonderful storylines, so I'm glad it's being received well’.
A section of the Amnesty International website on the non-profit No More Stolen sisters reads: “Violence against women, and certainly violence against Indigenous women, is rarely understood as a human rights issue.
“When governments, media and the general public consider violence against women, it is often described as a criminal concern or a social issue. It is both of those things, of course. But it is also a human rights issue.
“Indigenous women and girls have the right to be safe and free from violence.
“When a woman is targeted with violence because of her gender or Indigenous identity, her fundamental rights are abused. And when state authorities do not offer her adequate protection because of her gender or Indigenous identity, those rights are violated.”
You can support the non-profit here.
Topics: Film and TV, Disney, Amazon Prime
Simon Fearn