Maya Karin
Environmental Advocate

 

 

Maya Karin was born in Bayreuth, Germany, to a German father and a Malaysian mother, but she grew up in Indonesia. At 17, her family moved to Malaysia where she further her studies before starting her acting career.

The first film role she was cast as one of the leads was in 2001’s Seri Dewi Malam but her major breakthrough was when she went on to win the Best Actress Award at the 49th Asia Pacific Film Festival 2004 in Fukuoka, Japan for her lead role in 2004’s Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam. Now one of the leading and established actresses in Malaysia’s local film industry, Maya garnered wide recognition from the critics and public for her award-winning and memorable performances in movies. Maya holds the record in the history of the Malaysia Film Festival for an actress with most nominations in the category for Best Actress Award (10) and she’s among few actresses to have won the award twice.

Maya has been passionate about the environment from a young age having been influenced by her father. She is actively involved in various campaigns for environmental and animal protection and often works with the Malaysian Society and World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

2020 sees Maya doing a lot of what she loves most, acting, singing and spreading awareness on environmental and animal protection which she hopes to keep continue doing for years to come.