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.
Maya holds the record in the history of the Malaysia Film Festival 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.
Maya was born in Bayreuth, Bavaria, West Germany on 29 October 1979. Her father Gottfried Roelcke, is German while 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 in Media and Marketing before starting her acting career.