Maya Karin

Maya Karin
Maya Karin in 2014.
Born	Maya Karin Roelcke (1979-10-29) 29 October 1979 (age 37) Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany
Education	Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Cyberjaya Malaysia
Occupation	Actress, singer, Channel V VJ
Years active	2001–present
Musical career
Genres	Pop, R&B
Instruments	Vocals
Labels	Warner Music Malaysia

Maya Karin Roelcke (born 29 October 1979) better known by her stage name Maya Karin, is a German-born Malaysian film actress, television host, and singer. Now one of the leading and established actresses in Malaysia's local film industry, she garnered wide recognition from the critics and public for her award winning and memorable performances in movies such as Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam and Ombak Rindu. In the history of Malaysia Film Festival (Malaysia's foremost film award ceremony), Maya hold the record for an actress with most nominations in the category of Best Actress Award (10) and she's among few actresses to have won the award twice. Maya is also the first of only two Malaysian actresses to have won the prestigious Best Actress Award at the Asia Pacific Film Festival. Being nominated in best acting category and popularity award for almost every year, Maya is titled for an impressive number of award and nomination in Festival Filem Malaysia, Anugerah Skrin, Anugerah Majlis Pengkritik Filem Kuala Lumpur, Anugerah Lawak Warna, Asia Pacific Film Festival, Estepona Fantasy and Terror Film Festival, Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian and Anugerah MELETOP ERA.

Maya was born in Bayreuth, Germany. Her father, Gottfried Roelcke, is German. Her mother, Che Zan, is from Penang, Malaysia, and is of Malay, Chinese and Indian parentage. She is the oldest of three siblings. Her brother is Armin, and her sister is Irina. Growing up in Indonesia until the age of 17, she started modelling and theatre acting in her teens. She later graduated from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia in Media and Marketing before starting her career in the Malaysian Entertainment Industry.

In 2000, she was cast as a television show host for Malaysia's TV3 lifestyle entertainment programme Wavelength, which began her mainstream career and exposure. She began to receive film offers within a year and was soon cast in her first film role as one of the leads in Aziz M. Osman's Sri Dewi Malam. With role of a wife in comma, Maya couldn't prove much of her acting ability through the limited screen time in the film and eventually criticized for an unimpressive performance. In the same year, she played a girl living in a rural village in her second movie No Problem. Her significant figure in the local entertainment industry (hosting, acting and magazine cover girl) then led her to win the New Popular Artist Award at Malaysia's Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian (Popular Star Awards) and the Anugerah Media Hiburan (Media Entertainment Awards) in 2001. In 2003 she was cast in a supporting role in a hit movie, Mr. Cinderella 2 opposite established actors Yusry (KRU) and Erra Fazira and began to show a promising talent and career in acting.