Disney has confirmed its choice for the role of Nani with Sydney Elizabeth Agudong. The 22-year-old actress will be playing Lilo’s older sister and guardian in the upcoming live-action adaptation of 2002’s Lilo & Stitch. The actress has already been involved in numerous film projects and TV series, including an episode of NCIS. However, the latest live-action Disney film will be her biggest role to date, here’s what we know about the star so far.
Born and raised on the Hawaiian island of Kauai in 2000, Agudong began singing and performing from an early age. She moved from Kauai to Los Angeles in 2018 to further pursue her career in the performing arts. She is a singer as well as an actress and recently released her first original song “Welcome to Hollywood” under her stage name “Jayne Doe.” Her music has already received lots of praise; she shares her music as well as other details about her life on her Instagram.
Agudong’s acting career is arguably even more successful than her music career. She first appeared as Ellen in the film Second Chances, but her acting roles didn’t really pick up until 2021, where she appeared in multiple shorts and indie films as well as a couple of episodes of On My Block. Most recently, she appeared in an episode of NCIS this year as Kelly in Season 20, Episode 15.
The actress also has multiple upcoming projects including At Her Feet a movie that centers around archeology students in Hawaii who risk their lives trying to save artifacts from the path of a volcano.
Agudong’s representatives have yet to comment on the casting, however, her casting has resulted in a heated discussion about race despite the actress being a native Hawaiian.
Disney themselves have been quiet about the casting so far, we’ll just have to wait and see what Agudong does with the role before passing judgement. As of right now, we don’t have a release date, but check back for further updates
