Auli’i Cravalho on How Moana Aged in the Sequel (Exclusive)

Both Moana and the actress who plays her are growing up!

Auli’i Cravalhostar of the 2016 animated Disney hit Moana and him new sequel (in theaters November 27) is “very grateful to be able to return” to her boss, who has found her way, she tells PEOPLE. “My entire career as a young performer began with this character.”

The Hawaii native, now 24, was 14 when she was selected from hundreds of aspiring stars for the voice role and 15 when she recorded it. The long-awaited return Moana 2says Cravalho, means “I can really look back on this whole decade that I’ve been through.”

While the first film “focused on connecting with the past,” he continues: Moana 2 “it’s about connecting with the future and all the things that may come.” And in a full-circle moment where she returns to the character that launched her career, Cravalho – now as Sally Bowles in Broadway Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club and executive producer live action Moana adaptation – it’s both looking back and looking forward.

“I feel like Moana and I have been aligned in our growth together, and that’s amazing,” he says. The new film marks one of the few times ‘in Disney history where a Disney princess has been allowed to age. And so my voice has changed since I played her at 15, and now her voice is a little different. The songs I sing also show a different side of me.”

Back in the lead role Dwayne Johnson as the villainous demigod Maui, Moana 2 also brings back Temuera Morrison’s voice actors, Nicole ScherzingerRachel House and Alan Tudyk — Cravalho’s authentically Polynesian community calls it “Moana ohana,” or family. “We started thinking it was going to be an animated series that would come to Disney+,” he recalls. “After we watched a lot of the material and started recording, we realized, ‘This deserves to be shown in the theater.'”

The new film also features Moana’s scene-stealing younger sister Simea (voiced by Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) and “a whole new crew that comes along on this journey,” Cravalho teases with a smile. “If you thought Moana went far beyond the reef in the first movie, you have no idea how far she’ll go in this one.”

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What has her beloved character taught her after her whirlwind introduction to Hollywood and sharing Moana around the world? “From the first film, I realized that you can be the hero of your own story,” she says. An even better suggestion for young Disney fans: “You don’t need love to complete your story.”

And because they are a “celebration” of her Hawaiian heritage and true Polynesian history, these films will always hold a special place in Cravalho’s heart. World Moana and his ever-expanding horizons “really tap into the incredible knowledge that we have as an indigenous culture.”

Moana 2 in cinemas from November 27.