Maya Jama lands huge new role in ‘sexy’ smash hit Netflix series in career change leaving her ‘over the moon’
LOVE Island host Maya Jama has landed a role as a gangster’s moll in Guy Ritchie’s hit Netflix series The Gentlemen.
The 30-year-old presenter began filming her scenes this week and will be officially announced as part of series two’s cast soon.
She plays the wife of an acquaintance of the programme’s lead character Eddie Horniman, played by Theo James.
A source said: “Maya is over the moon to land a role in such a massive show with Guy Ritchie at the helm. The Gentlemen was one of 2024’s biggest series and it’s such a glossy, sexy show. It’s a perfect fit.”
Maya has been filming at Badminton House in Gloucestershire. The Grade I-listed home doubles as Eddie’s Halstead Manor in the gangster series.
Earlier this year, Maya said she had been having screen tests for an unspecified role.
She said: “My dream role, I would want to be like a villain or something that’s completely not like me, so then it shows that I can actually act.
“And then people would be like, wow, two different people.”
She has also hinted at the career change online, sharing a peek at a Netflix script and later posing with actress Kaya Scodelario, who plays mob leader Susie Glass in the series.
The show, created, written and executive produced by Ritchie, follows former Army officer Eddie, who unexpectedly inherits his father’s country estate.
But he gets a lot more than he bargained for after discovering the manor is home to a huge cannabis farm — which is part of a much bigger crime empire.
Around 3.5million watched the eight-part first series in its first seven days on streaming service Netflix, with a total of 77million views worldwide in six months.
Maya has always wanted to be an actor.
She first auditioned for a TV role when she was 14.
She tried out for E4 teen drama Skins — the show that launched Kaya’s career in the noughties.
She had a small role in Katherine Ryan’s comedy-drama The Duchess in 2020.