Louisa Clein is best known for her role as Emmerdale villain Maya Stepney, but she had an illustrious career before arriving in the Dales.
She made her acting debut in Judge John Deed in 2001, and went on to appear in BBC shows including Doctors, Casualty, New Tricks and Midsomer Murders, as well as a recurring role in Holby City as drug addict Kim, who left her son Parker in the care of nurse Essie.
The 44-year-old shook up the ITV soap in 2018 when her character Maya arrived in the Yorkshire village with husband Dr Liam Cavanagh, and his daughter Leanna.
She soon began an affair with David Metcalfe (Matthew Wolfenden) which was rumbled by her husband, and they divorced, leaving Maya homeless.
The teacher then struck up a relationship with David’s step-son Jacob, and groomed him during private tutor sessions, but their illegal romance was discovered by the 16-year-old’s ex-girlfriend Liv, who began blackmailing them.
Maya’s predatory behaviour ended with her arrest, and subsequent imprisonment, but following her early release from jail in 2019, she arrived back in the village and left a baby boy, Theo, on David’s doorstep.
Since departing the iconic soap, Louisa has taken to the stage, and has been appearing in several productions up and down the UK.
Earlier this year, the actress starred in the thriller A Murder Has Been Arranged, alongside fellow Emmerdale veteran Deena Hope, who played Viv Hope for almost 20 years.
And in 2022, she was one of seven celebrities who took part in the BBC Two show Pilgrimage, which followed the famous faces of different faiths as they followed in the footsteps of sixth century Irish monk Saint Columba from Ireland to Scotland.
Louisa undertook the challenge alongside interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, cricketer Monty Panesar, former The Apprentice star Nick Hewer, Scarlett Moffatt, comedian Shazia Mirza and Paralympian Will Bayley.
The actress, who is Jewish, said appreciated her faith more during filming, and said while she missed her husband and three kids, it was a “wonderfully liberating experience”.
“I am not ashamed of being Jewish and I loved telling the others about what an extraordinary, beautiful religion it is,” she told Jewish News.
She spoke candidly about her faith in Rob Rinder’s series The Holocaust, My Family and Me, when she and sister Natalie discussed their mother, who was a Dutch Holocaust survivor.
Louisa also starred in the powerful short film Wake, alongside British acting royalty Alison Steadman.
The Gavin and Stacey star plays a woman mourning the unexpected death by suicide of her son-in-law Tom, while Louisa plays his widow Hannah.
The film has won several awards since its release last year, including one for director Rebecca Rase, who won the Best First Time Female Director honour at the Toronto Women Film Festival.
“The awards are starting to pile up!!! Beyond proud of @rebecca.3.rose and @swiftrocket @tpcpublicist @johnroseuk and everyone involved in this little gem,” Louisa wrote on Instagram.
