Say aloha to Disney‘s newest family member.
Maia Kealoha, a young actress from Hawaii, has landed the role of Lilo in Disney’s live-action remake of the 2002 classic Lilo & Stitch, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
And Maia, who was recently crowned the 2023 Mini Miss Kona Coffee, already has an ohana standing behind her. “what a little CUTIE!!! she’s the perfect lilo,” one fan tweeted, while another added, “oh she’s adorable i hope she has fun and gets so much love.”
For true fans of the movie, nothing—and no detail—got left behind. “She looks just like the animated character. Perfect casting,” one fan commented, with another reacted, “The perfect Lilo does exist, and she looks like this.” (See a photo of Maia here.)
The casting comes more than nine months after Dean Fleischer Camp joined Lilo & Stitch as director, per THR.
Though not much is known about what direction the live-action Lilo & Stitch will take, the original movie followed the unlikely friendship between Lilo—an orphaned 6-year-old girl living with sister Nani—and Stitch, a mischievous alien who Lilo adopts as her dog.
