A look at High Chief Peter Maivia shows exactly how Maivia, who was an actual Samoan High Chief, inspired Maui’s look, Maui’s face bears more than a passing resemblance to Maivia and Maui is built much more like the High Chief than he is Dwayne Johnson, though the eyebrow is all Rock.
Below is the tweet that Dwayne Johnson responded to which revealed the information and shows the resemblance.
As half Samoan, The Rock had a connection to the story of Moana, as it is based on Polynesian culture and myth, but beyond that, the Rock said on Twitter that his own family directly inspired the film.