Tia Carrere

In Lilo & Stitch (2025), Tia Carrere is on the doorstep with a clipboard as Mrs Kekoa, the social worker assessing Nani's care of her younger sister. Carrere voiced Nani in the 2002 animation; now she plays the person checking whether the household can cope. That change of job is more interesting than much of the remake's alien business. It is an apt return for an actor often cast as capable women, though the sisters get the stronger material here.

Her breakthrough as Cassandra Wong, the rock singer in Wayne's World (1992), put her singing and comic timing to work together. We would start there, because Carrere does her own singing as well as making the comedy work. Juno Skinner in James Cameron's True Lies (1994) belongs to a less satisfactory film. The action is inventive, but the long marital detour is frequently cruel. Jamie Lee Curtis has to work harder than she should to make it funny; Carrere's presence is no reason to overlook that.

Relic Hunter (1999–2002) gave her a sustained television lead as Sydney Fox, making the adventurous woman her regular occupation. Voicing Nani in Lilo & Stitch (2002) put her to different use, drawing on her Hawaiian roots. We value the credibility of that voice work, especially in a career marked early on by typecasting. It is a reason to give the animation as much attention as the more conspicuous action roles.

Dean Fleischer Camp's remake is warm enough without becoming necessary viewing. Maia Kealoha and Sydney Agudong, as Lilo and Nani, do the work that makes the film matter. We cared about the sisters during their kitchen arguments because Agudong makes the exhaustion of keeping them afloat believable. Carrere's casting is a pleasing connection to the original, though the film is tamer, longer and less funny. For Carrere, start with Cassandra, then listen to Nani; Mrs Kekoa can wait.