Inside Dwayne Johnson’s 40-Pound Prosthetic Transformation Into Maui for Live-Action Moana

So, Disney just dropped the first proper trailer for their live-action Moana—and if you ever wanted to see Dwayne Johnson with straight-up Disney prince hair, today's your lucky day. The Rock's rocking some impressive locks as Maui, and trust me, it looks about as far from his usual Fast & Furious vibe as you can get.

Maui, But Make Him Dwayne Johnson… Sort Of

The big headline from this trailer isn't just Johnson's wig (though that is definitely a talking point), but the fact that he's hauling around a full prosthetic bodysuit to play the demi-god. Apparently, it takes a solid two and a half hours—every single filming day—for Dwayne to transform into Maui. That includes the wig, all the makeup, and, most notably, forty extra pounds of sculpted Maui muscle on top of his own.

Here, straight from Johnson himself on the process:

'That is an additional 40 pounds on you. 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.'

To make things trickier (and a little weirder), the original plan was to use visual effects for Maui's bulk—turn Dwayne into Maui with 1s and 0s. But pretty quickly, the team decided, 'Nope, we need something real.' Hence the high-tech bodysuit, which moves with him and, according to Johnson, actually 'breathes' in a way CG could not. Makeup designer Joel Harlow led the charge, and, by all accounts, crushed it.

Oh, and it's not like the prosthetic muscles meant The Rock could take it easy. He had to keep his actual physique, because, as he (very practically) pointed out, if he lost too much weight, his neck would shrink and that would ruin the Maui illusion: bodysuit up top and tiny neck sticking out. Would not look right.

• Johnson had to keep working out to stay in shape, even with a 40-pound suit on him
• In between takes, crews of five or six people would swoop in to blast him with fans and keep him cool—they literally had to open up the suit and pull back the giant wig so he didn't melt
• Entire process sounds equal parts grueling and slightly absurd (but very Hollywood)

Who's Who in This Moana Remake?

Dwayne's not the only one braving the elements here. The live-action Moana cast also includes Catherine Laga'aia playing Moana herself; John Tui as her tough-love dad, Chief Tui; Frankie Adams as Moana’s mom, Sina; and Rena Owen as the legendary Gramma Tala. If you’re a Broadway person, you’ll spot Thomas Kail (yes, that Thomas Kail from Hamilton) in the director’s chair. The screenplay is handled by Jared Bush, who wrote the original animated Moana, teaming up with Dana Ledoux Miller for this adaptation.

The whole thing sails into theaters on July 10.

So yeah—expect Dwayne Johnson channeling a Disney demigod, plus some extreme movie-magic muscle (that took a small village to manage), all hitting the big screen this summer.