When I saw that Pussy Cat Doll Nicole Scherzinger was on the list of who we’d be interviewing during the Moana press event, I got excited. I mean, it’s been ten years since Don’t Cha hit the airwaves. (Don’t hate me, I am singing it too!) Speaking to a strong, beautiful woman that has lasted in the industry, and knows how to utilize her fame for the better good, this was a treat.
Nicole is Hawaiian, so knows and exudes the culture. This made her perfect for the role as the Sina, Moana’s mother in Disney’s latest animation. She sat down with us and chatted for a bit, leaving me wishing we were friends, for she is one that would not only be fun to hang out with but she makes you just want to be a better person.
Pussy Cat Doll Nicole Scherzinger
She walks in the room and is excited to see us.
It’s just great to be in a room with women, you know. Awesome.
Tell us why you wanted to be a part of this project and how it came to be.
Well, I didn’t want to be a part of the project. I felt I had to be a part of the project, and that’s because I’m from Hawaiian descent, so I knew that the movie was gonna be about the Polynesian people. And I don’t think Disney ever really did a film like that. I know they touched upon it in Lilo and Stitch, but I know people from my family were like, no, that’s like the fake kind. And I didn’t wanna go back home and hear from family, “How come you’re not in Moana? You ARE Moana, Nicole!”
Yeah, first of all, I’m too old, okay? So [I wanted to be involved] because of that, and because it’s the story of our people, where we come from, and I’m just so proud that Disney did right by us, by the Polynesian people, and stayed true to our culture, where we come from, our mana, our power, our people, our lifeline and just told a beautiful story about a young girl.
It wasn’t a love story, it was a heroine story about a young girl’s journey, which we can all relate to about discovering who we really are and what we’re meant for, what our purpose and our destiny is. That’s a beautiful story, and then I have the honor of playing Moana’s mother, Sina. They were trying to give me the backstory. And I was like, please, I lived this, I lived with my mother and my tutu, which means grandmother in Hawaiian. In our culture, the men are the head of the household but the women are the backbone. They are everything. They are the strength. They keep it together. And in my family, my tutu, her mother had twenty-one births. Or twenty-two births, and then eighteen children that survived, and that’s just from my tutu. And then my mother, she had ten kids and then so on and so on. My tutu already has like seventy-five grandchildren and great-grandchildren combined. So we have a really, really big family at home. So I just felt like I have to be a part of this.
Turning the questions to us –
What did you think of it, because my family hasn’t seen it, so what did you all think?
Of course we all said, “Amazing. Loved it. Beautiful. Yeah, I can’t wait for my kids to see it.”
And it’s great for girls and boys to look up to someone like Moana, you know. How strong-willed she is, and it’s such a positive story, it’s so beautiful. Yeah, so it’s awesome. You get to see a little bit of where, you know, if anybody’s from the Polynesian Islands, where we come from.
You have such a huge family. Is everybody still in Hawaii?
You know how families grow, and they get married, and some migrate to different parts of the world. I have a lot of family here in America in the U.S., But mainly most of them are on the Island. You know when people come from an island, they usually stay on the Island. A lot of them haven’t even been outside of the Island. So, yeah, so I’m pretty much related to all of Oahu. My mother had me at a very young age. She was pregnant with me when she was seventeen and had me when she was eighteen, and she raised me on her own. And then my tutu and papa -that’s from grandmother and grandfather, they helped raise me as well. And then my mother met my father, which is why I got the last name Scherzinger, it’s my adopted last name. She had to move to the states for my tutu and papa, my papa was in the Marines to help raise me. And then when I said as soon as I grew up and was able to afford it, I would move my mom back home.
So, as soon as I was making some dollars, I moved my mom back home and so my mom and dad are in Hawaii again next to my tutu and papa ‘cause they have to have their kids around them.
What a beautiful movie for to be in, almost like a tribute to your family’s culture.
Yeah, I’m going home for Christmas so I wanna try to get in a theater where everybody’s watching. I think everyone’s going to be crying and stuff. It’s amazing because we don’t really have a film like that or a lot of things like that out there. What is that one movie about the New Zealand girl? Whale Rider! You get like small films like that, but to watch a Disney film, something so commercialized, and it’s gonna be seen all over the world. To hear the music and have the spirit and have the beauty of the Islands where you’re from and the real spirit and energy of the Islands. They always say you don’t have to be Hawaiian. You can be Hawaiian at heart, you know. Depicted from Disney is just really special for us.
First, congratulations, because I think we’re all in agreement that it’s just going to be so successful.You’ve done a lot of live performances between music and the theater. How is this in comparison?
I was born singing. I wanted to be Whitney Houston. It’s The Greatest Love of All that made me realize that I wanted to sing. And so from a little girl I always performed live, and I was fortunate enough to go to a performing arts school and did a lot of theater, a lot of musical theater. So, the stage is my favorite place to be, really musical theater is. I just finished doing Cats a year ago in the West and I was supposed to be doing it on Broadway, and I wanna go back to the theater when the time is right. But,I do love being in the recording studio as well I love touring. Doing this movie was such a new experience for me because I’ve never been an animated character.
And when you’re acting, you’re acting to not the other actor or the character, you’re acting with another just person giving you the lines, and so you have to just imagine everything. To be so creative in your head. And they show you these like sketched out drawings of your character in the scene. And everything looks like penciled in, right? And you just have to kinda close your eyes and put yourself there and kind of be extra animated. And I thought it was hilarious because they had cameras all throughout the whole recording studio because it makes sense, you know.
When you’d be like, oh my gosh, that fish really looks like Will Smith. How did they do that? Because they see all the different expressions of your face and try to incorporate it into the character to bring it to life as you, so you have that going on. And I probably looked crazy when I was doing it. And they make you do all kinds of sounds. They’re like, now you’re sad. And make a sad sound. You’re like…mm. “Is that enough?” And then they’re like you’re running, running, running and now you’re kind of running, and then you build up to a run. One time I was recording and I closed my eyes and they’re like you’ve just seen Moana for the first time. She’s back. And I was running, and I was feeling it, and the breath had to be right to emote the right energy. And the hug was like, okay, a soft hug and then a hard hug. I opened my eyes and I felt like wow, we really did something.
And I was literally on the opposite end of the room from them. They’re like, “Sorry, we didn’t wanna disturb you. You were in it. We didn’t get any of that. You were committed and you were in it.” It was such a cool experience. I don’t take anything for granted, especially where I come from, with what I do, anything I see. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve seen the most beautiful things. I’ve done such amazing things. Within this past month, I’ve performed with Andrea Bocelli several times.
I’ve performed with my dear friend, Prince and with his band for his memorial concert in Minneapolis, so the most amazing funk musicians and singers ever. And then working on a new project with these people that is something I never thought I would do. And it’s just such a blessing. No matter what you do in life, you cannot ever take any of it for granted. You know, even coming back to X Factor and dealing with Simon Cowell, just have to be thankful. It just helps you really appreciate it. I was just doing Access Hollywood and they’re like, “Wow, it’s so nice to see that you’re excited about the movie.” And I was like yeah! Some people come in and they’re not that excited. She said, I could tell you’ve lit up. And I’m like, you have to be. I mean you have to be just so grateful for everything, especially with the- the state of the world and everything right now.
In terms of your character, Sina, was there a certain thing that you brought more into the character from your personal self? It’s a small character, but she emotes so much, especially in her support of Moana.
It was interesting because in the script they had a couple different readings, like different ways they wanted to get the story across, especially the part where she’s trying to explain to her daughter that you can’t go beyond the reef. Trying to explain because, you know, your father’s been there and he’s had a great loss and he’s just trying to protect you. And anything that I do, I think artists do, you draw from personal connection. And I think she says a line, She says, “Moana, sometimes who- who you are or who you want to be, it’s not meant to be.” And I drew from that experience and I drew from my mother.
I know that, oh my gosh, I can’t cry. I’m sorry. I’m having a moment here and like I’m very emotional. I haven’t slept. I just flew in from London and I’m like thinking about my family. But I know that my mom and my tutu and all the women in my family have sacrificed everything for their children. They’re just, selfless. And it’s not to be like, hey, I’m selfless, that’s just who the women in my family are. And when I thought of that line I really thought of my mother and my tutu and how sometimes who you are or who you wish you could be, I’m sure they had their own dreams. And their own aspirations. And I know my mother didn’t mean to have me at such a young age, she fell in love and the guy actually left her. You know.
And, I mean, if you think about it, it’s pretty much Auli’i’s age. Almost- you know, she’s turning sixteen, and you want these things. I was a little bit- I was like how do I turn this into a positive? ‘Cause she was saying it’s not meant to be. And I felt that it was a bit negative, you know, ‘cause we’re always like, “no, you can do it. You can achieve it!” Which is why she actually lets her go in the end. So it was like how can I make this make sense to me? And it was just kinda like speaking from experience. Sometimes you have to, um, look past yourself.
Like we have made sacrifices for the better. Or what we think is for the better, right? But then I think in the end she does know that she trusts Moana and allows her to go and find her destiny.
Even though she could resent you, she’d be happier on the water, she’s still there with her people.
She was supportive. And, I felt like she left a little bit of an opening, so in the end when that choice finally was- Moana made that choice, her mom was like, okay. That’s why moms are so great, right? ‘Cause my mother, she’s, oh my gosh, you guys, seriously. I’m like seventy years old, and my mom still treats me like I’m little Nicolelsky. She calls me Nicolelsky – “what was that in the interview? What are you posting on Instagram? Are you twerking? What are you- what is this twerking?” I was like Mom, it’s an art. I actually had to learn that, Mom. Great dancers taught me that. I worked on that, Mom.
So that’s what moms do. They create that structure and they teach you. My mother always told me growing up, Nicole, I just never want you to compromise yourself. But then at the end, you know, they have to just have faith and trust that they raised you the right way. I come from a very spiritual background. My grandfather, my papa, is a Bishop. And so I grew up in the church and everything, so, we just have a strong belief system. So, just to have trust and have faith that you gotta let ‘em go and have wings and do their thing.
So you mentioned Whitney Houston, and it reminded of your audition tape, way back fifteen years ago. Did you think that starting out back then do you feel like you are where you should be? Did you ever think that you would be where you are now when you first started out?
The honest answer to that is no. When I was a little girl I came from nothing, but for some reason, I felt like I was meant to be Whitney Houston. Like I wanted to be – not meant to be because no one can replicate her ever, or touch her. But I knew I was meant to sing and to you know, to be a voice. And it’s interesting, my life has taken different paths.
And I don’t regret anything, and I’m very grateful for everything. But last year in December I finished my year and I was reflecting and I was like, how do I feel about this year? It’s the first year I never really put music out. What am I doing? Am I gonna make a new album? How can I compete with all these twenty-year-olds, and everybody’s got the Max Martin singles. What am I doing?
And I really thought about it. And I was like, I’m really tired of people telling me, you know you’re kinda like, sing everything. And that’s very confusing. And you do everything. That’s really confusing for people. And I’m like, why can’t I do my own thing? So I decided last year that I was gonna create my own show, and do my own album that comes out of it. And it’s I don’t wanna talk about it too much, ‘cause I’d rather do it and it’s gonna take a lot of time. But to answer your question, I believe we’re all made for a purpose. A great purpose. And I haven’t got there yet. I came up with this because in interviews people are usually like, wow, you’ve done so much. “You know, what is there left to do?” And I’m like, that’s funny, ‘cause I feel like I’m just scratching the surface and I’m just using, a fraction of my potential.
Dreams and goals.
So I’ve got everything left to do. And, so it’s taking that time, It’s carving that time out now for myself to create what I feel like I was made to create. And I can’t live, I can’t die with this in me. So I have something that I wanna create, a project, and I wanna share- and that will be my legacy that I wanna leave behind. So I’m working on it. And I’m getting there. Obviously, God has His own timing. It’s really taken me, a lot. You know, I was watching Gwen Stefani on Access Hollywood before this, before I started speaking, they were asking her questions, and they were like, wow, she’s really so open now. And I was like wow, when you really live through stuff and experience life, and experience love, and experience heartache and all those things, you really change as a woman. You really grow as a woman. You grow more confident. You really start to discover who you are. You know, even though Moana is sixteen in the film and is just discovering, I’m sure you guys feel like if we really look deep within, we’re still discovering who we are. Does that make sense? But we’re still like, who am I? What do I really want? I’m worth this. You know, I’ve gotta keep my integrity, my dignity, and this is my self-worth. And I think it’s a constant struggle. That’s what I wanna build this project around, My story. And I feel like all women, and all people, can relate to that inner journey, that struggle and that battle of learning and knowing your own self-worth, as a woman, and going after what you want, and just be happy with yourself. It’s so easy to say, you know, you can’t really be happy with someone until you’re happy with yourself. But how hard is that? I’m very grateful for where I am. You have to look at it and be like, ‘This is what led me to be here, let me run and grow from this. But this is where I really see myself and this is where God made me. So let me get myself on track and focus and get it together, ‘Cause no one else is gonna do it for me.’ I have the vision and I’m going there.
MOANA is in theaters now!
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*I was invited by Disney to attend the Moana Event to share my experiences with my readers. All opinions are my own.
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