Nafanua
RECOMMENDED READING
Tala O Le Vavau: Myths, legends and customs of old Samoa, by C. Steubel, Iosua Toafa, and Brother Herman.
AMERICAN SAMOAN EDITORIAL TEAM
Nicole Alefaio Nicole was born and raised on Duwamish land, Seattle WA. Her family migrated to Seattle from Manua, American Samoa. Her mother is of Amskapi Piikani Blackfeet Tribe, and Spanish descent. Nicole grew up with her father, Michael Senoa Alefaio and shared a home with her big Samoan family growing up. She’d like to thank her daughter, Mele Aulelei: “even if she wasn’t mine she would still be one of my favorite people in life. If we’ve lived other lives, maybe in another one, she was my grandmother. She is always teaching me to love and live.”
And special thanks to Izik Moreno and Terisa Tinei for their insights into local traditions and expressions for this episode.
EPISODE CAST
Yara Shahidi is the host of the second half of the series.
Yara is an award-winning actress, producer, change agent, and breakout star of ABC’s Emmy-and Golden Globe-nominated series black-ish. Shahidi is now the executive producer and lead of its Freeform spinoff series, grown-ish (#1 cable comedy, 18-49 yr olds), playing character Zoey Johnson. Next up, Shahidi will take on Tinker Bell in Disney’s live-action Peter Pan & Wendy. As Shahidi focuses on utilizing her platform to empower and inspire others, she continues to be one of Hollywood’s most heralded talents.
SEFI - Voiced by Abby Leuelu
Abigail Leuelu is a 16 year- old full sāmoan who loves singing and dancing. She also loves spending quality time with my family. One of her goals in life is to set a good example as a leader for the next generation. And as a Christian she believes that God is amazing and can make a way for her to accomplish that goal.
Nafanua - Voiced by Aryn Rozelle
Aryn is a Chamorro-American living in Northern California who has been voice acting for about 7 years. She loves video games, cats, and playing boardgames with her friends. Although she doesn't have much interest in cooking, she loves learning about food and wants to try as many things around the world as possible.
LAKI - Voiced by Jared Raman
Jared Raman is a Fijian-Canadian actor and writer, having provided voices for a number of titles, including Lords Mobile, Altdeus: Beyond Chronos, Emperor Leo: The Brave Can Change the Future, and Hello Hero: Epic Battle. Playful and spirited, Jared holds a bright passion for creativity, only overshadowed by his obsession with all things food."
Loto - Voiced by EJ Espino
EJ Espino is a Voice Actor based in the Philippines. Born and raised in the Philippines, he is fluent in both English and Tagalog. And being a Multimedia Arts student (soon-to-be graduate), he also has skills in other mediums of digital art and audio, but is mainly passionate about Voice Acting as a future career.
Coach T - Voiced by Irvin Sayoc Kalugdan
Irvin is an actor and Grammy-award winning musician that works primarily as a board certified music therapist and educator in Virginia. He has toured and performed domestically and internationally. On stage, Irvin performed in the off-Broadway musical production company, Midnight Productions in Evita and several seasons of Jesus Christ Superstar, as various roles in the Baltimore murder mystery improv company, Murder on the Menu. In The Washington Opera, Irvin was Sancho Panza’s assistant in Don Quichotte and the monkey tiger in Die Zauberflote. He has been featured as Daniel Willyam in the Investigation Discovery Series, Nightmare Nextdoor. He portrayed himself in the 2015 documentary, Music is Medicine “Before We Were Kings” with DJ Moby. He played Billy Cruz in Golden Throne’s Production of “Savage Squad” and was a guitarist in the 2018 release of The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time movie. He is excited to work with Ochenta Studios on their Cultureverse Series and has always been a passionate advocate for the arts and expressions of self and culture within society.