He doesn't mind playing the part.
Two young girls in Hawaii were more than excited as they spotted their favorite cashier, who they believe is a character from the popular kids film Moana, during a trip to Costco.
Rella Rivera, the mother of the two young girls, said her daughters are always excited when they go with their dad to the Costco where William Va’ana works every other week.
It's all because Va'ana bears a strikingly resemblance to Maui, who was portrayed in the animated film by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
“Every time he sees my daughters he yells out to them with a ‘chee hoo!’ and they love it,” Rivera told InsideEdition.com.
Rivera said the recent encounter was the first time she’d met Va’ana and she was excited to see how happy her daughters were to see him.
“They bee-lined for Will’s checkout and waited patiently,” Rivera said. “Half his hair was up that day, but normally it's down and flowing like Maui.”
Va’ana said children regularly think he is the character after the movie came out in 2016.
“When I watched the movie, I didn’t think much about it,” Va’ana said. “But then, you know the kids would catch on and see me in Maui and assume it themselves. So, if they assumed it themselves then I would just play the part.”
Because so many kids made the connection, he decided to begin doing kids parties as Maui. Since then, he’s done nearly 50, he said.
“I play along with the kids; It’s fine," Va’ana said. "I am at work. It makes my job easier to play along and just to have a good time with the kids. They are smiling, I am smiling.”
Va’ana said he plans to continue taking part in children's parties as the character.
“It’s fun — it’s mainly for the kids," Va'ana said. "I love interacting with kids and making them laugh and making memories."
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