Maya Karin Roelcke (born 29 October 1979) is a Malaysian film actress, television host and singer, known for ''
Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam'', ''
Anak Halal'', ''
Ombak Rindu'' and ''
Munafik 2''. She holds the
Malaysia Film Festival record for the actress with most nominations in the category of Best Actress Award (11), and is among the few actresses who have won the award twice. She is also the first of only two Malaysian actresses to have won the Best Actress Award at the
Asia-Pacific Film Festival
The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific (FPA). The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954.
History
The festival was first he ...
.
Early life
Roelcke was born in October 29, 1979 in
Bayreuth
Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
,
West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
. She is of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, Malay,
Chinese and
Indian Muslim
Islam is India's Religion in India, second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, or approximately 172.2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a 2011 census. India also has the Islam by country, third-larg ...
descent. Her father is from
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and her mother is from
Teluk Air Tawar,
Penang
Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...
, Malaysia. She lived most of her teenage years in different parts of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, finally ending up in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
when she was 17. She is the eldest of three siblings.
She graduated from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology Kuala Lumpur in Media and Marketing studies before starting her acting career.
Career
2000–2004
In 2000, she was cast as a television show host for Malaysia's
TV3 lifestyle entertainment programme ''Wavelength'', which began her mainstream career. She was soon cast in her first film role as one of the leads in
Aziz M. Osman's ''Seri Dewi Malam'' alongside popular actor Hairie Othman. Later that year, she played a girl living in a rural village in her second movie ''No Problem'' which was a box office failure. She won the New Popular Artist Award at Malaysia's Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian and the Anugerah Media Hiburan in 2001. In 2003 she was cast in a supporting role in, Mr. Cinderella 2.
In mid-2004, she was cast by director
Shuhaimi Baba in the lead role in ''
Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam''. She won the Best Actress Award at the 49th Asia Pacific Film Festival 2004 in
Fukuoka
is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...
, Japan. She also received her first nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the
Malaysia Film Festival.
2005–2010

In 2005, Roelcke reprised her role as the lead in ''
Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam II'' and won Best Actor (male/female) at the Estepona Fantasy and Terror Film Festival 2005 in
Málaga
Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
, Spain and, her second nomination for Malaysia Film Festival's Best Actress. Roelcke also won the Most Popular Actress (Film) Award at the Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian 2005.
Despite her growing film career, Roelcke continued her involvement in television, and in 2004 she was invited by
Channel ">International to join their VJ team. In 2006, she was voted Best VJ in Star Buzz Editor's Choice Awards 2006. Other shows that she has hosted are the bridal programme 'Ratu Sehari' (Queen for a Day) in 2004 for Malaysia's Astro Ria channel and the travelogue programme 'Beauty Secrets From The East' in 2005 for TV3.
In 2007, Roelcke played a variety of lead roles in Pesona Pictures' ''
Waris Jari Hantu'' and ''
1957: Hati Malaya'' and Tayangan Unggul's ''
Anak Halal'' and continued to receive nominations for various awards. Karin won Best Actress Awards at Malaysia Film Festival and Anugerah Oskar Malaysia in 2008 for her portrayal of a
tomboy
A tomboy is a girl or young woman who generally expresses masculine traits. Such traits may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities and behaviors traditionally associated with boys or men.
Origins
The w ...
girl in ''Anak Halal''.
In 2008 she began to play comedy film roles. Beginning with ''
Duyung'' in 2008, she played the title role of a
mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are ...
, performing all the underwater scenes on her own in the open sea of
Sipadan Island. In the same year, she received her second Most Popular Actress (Film) Award at the Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian 2008. In 2009, she starred in ''
Pisau Cukur'', a comedy film about gold diggers where she performed more comedy scenes than her role in ''
Duyung''.
In 2010 in the romantic comedy movie ''Cun'', she played a famous entertainment show host who falls in love with a man from a rural village alongside Remy Ishak.
2011–present: Career challenge and further success
In November 2011, Roelcke had her biggest commercial success ''
Ombak Rindu'', where she played a young women from a rural village struggling with life and love For this she won the Best Actress Award at both the ''Anugerah Skrin'' and Malaysia Film Festival in 2012 and her third Most Popular Actress (Film) Award at the Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian 2011.
After ''Lagenda Budak Setan 2'', she appeared in ''Sejoli'', wher she portrayed a girl looking for her true love, gaining her Best Actress award in Comedy Role at the second Anugerah Lawak Warna in 2014. Next were ''
Jwanita'' and ''
Nota'', a collaboration between local and Japanese film producers.
In 2017, Roelcke appeared in the horror film, ''
Munafik 2'' directed by
Syamsul Yusof, becoming the highest-grossing Malaysian film to date with a record of RM48 million in sales, also gaining commercial success in Indonesia, Brunei, and Singapore as well.
Musical career
In 2002, Roelcke recorded her debut music album, ''Erti Cinta'', and was nominated for the Best New Singer and Best Video awards at the
Anugerah Industri Muzik. Her second album is ''Bukan Qalamaya'' (2004). In 2013, Roelcke signed with
Warner Music Malaysia returning after 9 years with the single "Bintang Syurga". Her next album ''Teka-Teki'' was released on 24 March 2014.
Advertising
Roelcke has advertised various products starting with Wella in 2001, followed by Pantene, Yishion in 2003,
Celcom
Celcom Axiata Berhad (doing business as Celcom) was the oldest mobile telecommunications provider in Malaysia. Celcom was a member of the Axiata group of companies. Celcom was merged with Digi to form CelcomDigi on 1 December 2022.
Being on ...
in 2006,
L'Oréal Paris Malaysia in 2007. Other endorsements include Tag Heuer, Nescafe, Innershine, Dulux, Vono. Sorella and GreenTech Malaysia.
Activism
Having been influenced by her father, Roelcke has been very passionate about the environment from a young age. Roelcke is actively involved in various campaigns for environmental and animal protection and often works with the
Malaysian Nature Society and
World Wildlife Fund
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...
(WWF).
She also has her own campaign drive ''MayaLovesNature'', the first two of which involved working with 22,000 schoolchildren from 14 different primary schools targeting awareness of excessive use and waste of plastic bags. 2012 sees her as ambassador for the governments new recycling initiative and as spokesperson for the Geological Institute of Malaysia.
In January 2019, Roelcke was appointed as the ambassador for River of Life, a public outreach programme initiated by Malaysia's Ministry of Federal Territories which aims to transform the Klang River into a vibrant and livable waterfront of high economic value. Her popular #MayaRiverChallenge began when Karin uploaded a photo of her dipping her head into a stream to social media, which was then mimiced by many others.
Personal life
Roelcke married British teacher and educator Steven David Shorthose, or his Islamic name, Muhammad Ali, on 14 August 2008 in
Bellagio,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and later held a reception at the
Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) in
Kepong
Kepong is a town in northern Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of Stat ...
on 26 August. However, their relationship lasted for only two years after they divorced on 16 July 2010.
Filmography
Film
Television series
Television
Music videos
Theatres and musicals
Discography
* ''Erti Cinta'' (2001)
* ''Bukan Qalamaya'' (2004)
* ''Teka-Teki'' (2014)
References
External links
*
{{authority control
1979 births
Living people
Malaysian film actresses
Malaysian women pop singers
Malaysian people of German descent
Malaysian people of Malay descent
Malaysian Muslims
Malaysian people of Chinese descent
Video jockeys
Malaysian people of Indian descent
Malay-language singers
Malaysian television actresses
21st-century Malaysian actresses
Immigrants to Malaysia
German Muslims
Pesona Pictures contract players
KRU Studios contract players
Malaysian rhythm and blues singers
21st-century Malaysian women singers