Dwayne Johnson knows families around the world are tired of hearing his Moana songs on repeat — mostly because they’ve told him to his face.

The actor and former wrestler shared Monday at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival the impact that his role as the animated film series’ mythological Polynesian demigod, Maui, has had on global audiences. Particularly, the impression his character and the films’ musical elements have left on parents.

“Especially [with] Moana, because there’s music involved, there’s not a place I go around the world where I don’t have families come to me and say, ‘Oh my God, I’m so sick of hearing your song. My kids play it every day,'” the 53-year-old told the TIFF crowd at the city’s Royal Alexandra theater.

He said that he savored the sentiment anyway, because “one of the many cool parts of doing what we do, is every once in a while you get a movie like that that can really pierce” the cultural conversation and resonate with families across international borders.

Johnson sings the earworm, “You’re Welcome,” in Moana, and “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” in the sequel.

Johnson additionally praised both of Disney’s Moana films for allowing him to expose audiences to a character that’s so close to his own identity.

“It’s my culture. I’m half Black, I’m half Samoan. Moana is a global embrace of Polynesian culture,” he said of the original film, which follows a young girl as she searches the ocean for a relic she hopes to reunite with the goddess Te Fiti.

Johnson sings throughout the film, including on lyrical creations by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“The singing part, when they came to me with that idea, I loved this idea of playing the part of Maui. In terms of Polynesian history, Maui is real. And this idea of Working with Lin-Manuel Miranda who, at the time, was soaring high off Hamilton,” Johnson said.

He added that early during production, “I told Disney and Lin and everyone involved, I said, ‘I have a tendency to sing in keys that don’t exist. It might sound good to the ear, but I don’t know that it actually exists,’ and I got away with it.”

After voicing Maui in both Moana and Moana 2, Johnson returned to play the part in Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of the animated hit, which is set for release in 2026.

While he’s primarily known for his work in Hollywood blockbusters, Johnson attended TIFF to promote his role in his first prestige drama, The Smashing Machine, which has generated significant Oscar buzz for his leading role as real-life UFC fighter, Mark Kerr.

“I have been waiting for this opportunity to challenge myself in ways that I’d not been challenged before, to really just rip myself open as an actor,” Johnson previously told Entertainment Weekly of playing the part. “What I was able to connect with in Mark is when you want something so badly and you’ll do anything to get it, but the thing you want so badly just doesn’t happen. That happened for me: I thought I was going to be a professional football player, going to the NFL.”

The Smashing Machine releases Oct. 3 in theaters.

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