Louisa Clein

Louisa Clein (born 6 July 1979) is a British actress, known for portraying the role of Maya Stepney in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Life and career Clein was born in Poole, Dorset to Jewish parents, Peter and Channa Clein (née Salomonson). Her mother is from Amsterdam, Netherlands and is a professional violinist. Her father is a doctor. She has a sister called Natalie, a professional cellist. She attended Talbot Heath School in Bournemouth, Dorset. In 2001, Clein made her television debut as Charlie Deed in the BBC series Judge John Deed, which ran until 2007. In 2002, Clein appeared with her sister Natalie at the Holocaust Memorial Day concert and read extracts from her cousin Julia Pascal's Holocaust Trilogy. She has also appeared in shows such as Holby City, Doctors, Casualty, New Tricks, Midsomer Murders, Fanny Hill and played the role of Zelda Kay in ITV's Island at War in 2004. Clein's theatre performances have included A Midsummer Night's Dream, My Children, My Africa! and The Lady from the Sea. Her performance as Hilda in The Lady from the Sea earned her second place in the Ian Charleson Award. Clein also received critical acclaim for her 2005 performance as Anna in The Rubinstein Kiss. In 2006, Clein assumed the role of the radical pianist Harriet Cohen in Dearest Tania scripted by Duncan Honeybourne. She performed in the Almeida Theatre's 2008 production of Waste. In summer 2009, Clein performed in the Sylvia Plath play Three Women at the Edinburgh Festival. In 2010, Clein toured in an adaptation of the Oscar Wilde story Lord Arthur Savile's Crime as Sybil Merton with Lee Mead as her leading man, Lord Arthur. In July 2010, Clein starred in The Railway Children in the former Waterloo Eurostar Terminal in London, and at King's Cross Theatre in 2015. During 2015 and 2016, she starred in City Stories at both the St. James Theatre, London, and 59E59 Theaters in New York City.