SEOUL – Some parts end when the cameras stop. Maui – the role Dwayne Johnson plays in Disney’s Moana – is, the American actor will tell you, something closer to an inheritance.

“I don’t even consider him a character,” the 54-year-old said of the seafaring epic’s shape-shifting demigod, a part he first voiced a decade ago and now plays in the flesh. “I consider him just part of the culture and lore of Polynesian culture, so it just becomes very natural.”

Johnson, a former professional wrestling star known as The Rock, joined co-star Catherine Laga’aia and director Thomas Kail in fielding questions via live stream on June 29. The live-action remake lands a decade after the 2016 animated original, with Johnson reprising Maui and newcomer Laga’aia stepping into the title role.

Johnson is of Samoan descent and has long treated the role as a tribute to his late grandfather, Samoan high chief Peter Maivia – a man he lost at 10 years old and still counts among his heroes.

What he wanted to protect in the live-action version, Johnson said, was more than just the character’s bravado.

“I wanted the live-action version to embody his vulnerability,” he said. Just like in the animation, Maui is cheeky, full of ego, charming – his magical tattoos literally dancing across his skin. But with real actors and real stakes, that swagger needed something to push against.

He pointed to Maui’s backstory – abandoned in the ocean as a baby – and the moment he finally lets that wound show.

“The one time he does show his vulnerability is by the influence of Moana,” Johnson said, “this young woman who has this uncanny ability to think so empathetically.”

Laga’aia, a 19-year-old Sydney native, shares Johnson’s Samoan roots. For her, though, the connection ran the other way. She grew up watching Moana and credits the character with shaping who she became.