A Local Boy Riding the Wave: Kainalu "Kai" Moya & Becoming Ollie Akana in Power Rangers Dino Fury

By: Kenna Tanouye

I couldn’t help but feel a sense of immeasurable pride the entire time I was able to talk with Kainalu. He felt like he could have easily been someone I grew up with back home on Oʻahu, and his personality and authenticity spoke volumes about the dedication and work he has put into an acting career about to take an incredible leap forward. As the first actor from Hawai‘i and of Native Hawaiian descent to play a Power Ranger, Kainalu Moya’s upcoming show, Power Rangers Dino Fury is set to premiere February 20 as the 28th installment of the iconic Power Rangers franchise. But, to better understand this milestone requires first knowing his journey being mixed thus far.

Born and raised in Kāneʻohe, on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu, Jesten Kainalu Hideo Moya grew up in an environment where having mixed ancestry was commonplace and global cultures influenced even the smallest parts of everyday life. He goes by Kainalu, or Kai for short, which is a common Hawaiian name that can be loosely translated to “ocean waves” or “billowing sea.” As someone with big dreams, he looked beyond his island home, and set his sights on the world that lay across the Pacific Ocean. 

Those familiar with growing up in Hawai‘i don’t usually bat an eye at having three or more ethnicities, or knowing someone who does. “My ethnicities are Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian and then I have some European as well. German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and those are the ones that we know about,” he said laughing. When asked what culture(s) he feels most connected to, he responded, “definitely the Hawaiian culture,” adding that modern day Hawaiian culture’s blend with Japanese, Chinese and Filipino culture in Hawai‘i lends to a diverse growing up experience. 

Similar to the experience of those who grow up with a lack of diversity, culture shock can also affect those from places of great diversity, like Hawai‘i, who don’t usually have to second guess the validity of their identity or belonging. Life changes like moving to the “mainland” or continental United States for college or regular adult life can cause important realizations about the greater world outside of the island bubble. 

“I went to Washington for a couple years for school, and I mean, it’s pretty instant. As soon as you get there, you kind of notice like, ‘Wow, it’s pretty different’”, Kai expressed. While there, something he encountered frequently, was explaining to others his multi-ethnic identity. “Something I always experienced was like, I tell them where I’m from, and they just say, ‘Oh, dude, you’re Hawaiian’. Well, yeah, I’m Hawaiian, but this isn’t really what a pure Hawaiian looks like, I’m not an accurate representation of that, because I’m so many different things. But people automatically think, ‘Oh, [he’s] from Hawai‘i, [so he’s] Hawaiian.’ But then they missed the whole point of like, ‘he’s also Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and he actually has some white in him too’”, stated Kai. “Moving away and explaining that to people, a lot of people are just like, ‘What, are you serious?’, and it’s kind of crazy, that [they] aren’t educated on that, they don’t actually know”, Moya continued. Although initially it was overwhelming and left him feeling isolated at times, he didn’t let that keep him down. “Nobody understands your culture, nobody really understands where you're from. But then it turned into a positive for me, you know, just because then you get friends and then you develop relationships. And that's your chance, to educate and spread the word on where you're from, your background, and being multi-ethnic.” 

Although there wasn’t a specific moment where he could recall his initial reasoning for going into acting, Kai mentioned a conversation he had with his mom talking about his future plans during his senior year of high school. When he first explained his thoughts about not going to college and pursuing acting instead, his mom responded, ‘What do you mean? Like, you don't know how that business works, you should finish college first.” To which he recalled saying,“Oh, yeah, she's right.” Kainalu laughed, “It was true. I didn't know about the business. I didn't know how it worked. I just knew that it was something that really interested me, and that I wanted to try.” During his time in college, he was able to take a few acting and theater classes to see if this was something he wanted to continue pursuing, and ended up loving them. “I just got a little bit of confidence, I guess you could say, and so I left college, and did that, went to LA and just went full throttle, all gas,” he said with a smile. But he did warn that he wouldn’t recommend it unless you are sure that you really want it. “You really have to think about that decision, because that was a crazy one”. 

Transitioning into life in Los Angeles and recounting some casting experiences he has had, Kainalu dove deeper into the complications that can arise in the translation of your mixed identity onto the big screen. “In the past almost two years, when I started pursuing acting, that's when it started to hit me,” he began, describing the role breakdowns actors receive when going through the audition process which provide more information about the character they are portraying, like gender, occupation, personality, ethnicity, etc. “It’ll say, Japanese American, Chinese American, Pacific Islander, Caucasian, you know, whatever they’re thinking in their head of how the story’s gonna go and how that character is. And so a lot of the time I was going out for Japanese American, Chinese American, Pacific Islander, even sometimes, like Korean, or part Korean,” Moya stated. 

Not fitting certain stereotypical physical appearances, Kainalu opened up about how it really started to tear him apart because of how different he looked from the people around him and the environment he was in. “And that was complicated for me, because going into an audition room, where it says, Japanese American, and you walk in, and there’s hundreds of other actors that are actually only Japanese, you’re just like, ‘Wait a minute, I look a lot different from all these other actors in here’. Because truthfully, I’m not. I’m not a Japanese American. I’m Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian American, you know, so it’s not only that.” Aware and conscious of the fact that aside from acting he hasn’t had to face blatant racism, he understands and realizes that that isn’t the case for everyone. “It's been good so far. But I know that's not the same for other people. I've heard some stories of, you know, growing up multi-ethnic and being really different in their environment, they kind of, you know, get teased or picked on, like, ‘What are you?’ and things like that. But luckily, we grew up in a place that was very inclusive, so I'm fortunate enough that that didn't happen to me”. 

With COVID-19 changing a lot of original plans for people, the acting and entertainment industries have had to make drastic adjustments to production timelines, making job opportunities much more scarce and, overall, altering the entire audition process. “My first audition for Power Rangers was last March and I found out in August. So that's a long time to be thinking about the role that you're going for. I think I had like, four or five auditions in total.” Unable to tell anyone outside of his immediate family, he had to keep the exciting news quiet for almost a month until the new cast was announced officially by Power Rangers and Nickelodeon. “When I found out it was just, it was just a relief. It was just like, it's over. I'm not thinking about that anymore, all the hard work was put in, and now it's just really, it was really awesome.” he said. 

Now located in Auckland for the duration of filming, Kainalu shared his journey of moving across the world in the middle of a pandemic and adjusting to long work days on set. “We get up early in the morning, sometimes anywhere in the hour of four, and head to work. There’s a lot of lines to memorize and rehearse, fight choreographies, movements in scenes, there’s a lot on our plates, but everyone gets it done,” Kai stated. Although the jump to a new country can seem daunting for most though, he fondly recalled conversations and friendships he has been able to create with crew members on set. “The people here are great, really nice. Obviously, Polynesian culture is huge here. So, I’ve connected with a lot of people who are Maori on the film crew and things like that. We just discuss Polynesian culture, and how similar the Hawaiian culture is to Maori and all that. I definitely could live here.” 

With the show’s long lineage dating back to the early ‘90s, he has a large number of Power Rangers alumni that he is able to learn from and talk to, like the Sudarso brothers, Yoshi and Peter, and the most recent Blue Power Ranger, Jazz Baduwalia from Power Rangers Beast Morphers, for example. “One day we’ll meet in person, but we have had FaceTimes. We talked, and he just gave me Blue Power Ranger tips and tips on being in New Zealand. He’s a really cool guy, he’s really awesome,” Moya said on talking with Baduwalia. 

Coming full circle, when talking about what this leading role means for him, his family, and future generations of kids from Hawai‘i, I couldn’t help but feel his genuine gratitude, excitement and anticipation for the show. “Ultimately, it's a children's show, it's written for kids, and I feel like it's, I mean, what this whole interview is about, you know, being mixed, the mixed life. And it was just a great opportunity for the kids that were from, to see a Hawai‘i boy with a lot of different ethnicities, doing that. Power Rangers is already really inspirational for kids, there's a lot of lessons to be learned in the episodes. That's such a great opportunity and I was just really happy to be able to take that on and represent.” Moya exclaimed. 

When asked about role models in his own life, Moya mentioned two people that stand above the rest: his parents. “They've always been so hard working, even to this day, still working so many hours, it’s just crazy. That's just a huge inspiration for me, because they're always doing what they need to do and there's no complaints coming out of their mouths. So that's really inspiring and motivates me to do the same,” he said. He also considers another Hawai‘i local boy to be one of his biggest acting inspirations—Jason Scott Lee to be exact—and wants to ultimately keep pursuing action like him. 

We are witnessing the beginning of a bright future ahead for Kainalu Moya and I can’t think of anyone better to represent Hawai‘i on the global stage. Be sure to tune in on February 20 for Power Rangers Dino Fury on Nickelodeon and follow him on Instagram at @moyalawn.