The story
Maya Chen joined Molang Showbiz in 2017 as a stage actor with a reputation for stillness: performances that drew an audience in rather than reaching out to it. Our Theatrical & Motion team saw an actor who could carry both a long stage run and the close scrutiny of a camera, and built her representation around both.
Since then she has moved between West End and Broadway stages and streaming drama, often within the same year. She treats theatre and screen not as separate careers but as two halves of one practice.
That balance is deliberate. A long stage run sharpens her stamina and timing; a screen role forces her to strip everything back to thought and breath. She has said that each discipline keeps the other honest, and her representation team plans her calendar so she never spends too long away from either.
The craft
Maya prepares for every role in the rehearsal room, even on screen projects. She reads a script aloud from start to finish before making any decisions about character, and she keeps a written history for each role that never appears on the page.
- Script work done aloud and in full before any blocking
- Voice and breath training maintained year-round, between runs as well as during them
- Close collaboration with directors on physical space and stillness
- A preference for long rehearsal periods over long shooting days
“On stage you have to reach the back of the house. On camera you have to let the lens come to you. The work underneath is exactly the same.” — Maya Chen
On stage: ‘Velvet Nocturne’
Maya is the narrator-lead of ‘Velvet Nocturne: Immersive Opera’, an original production from Molang Studio Productions, for its Seoul run in January 2027 and its Los Angeles run in May 2027 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The 100-minute promenade staging moves the audience through the performance space, so she delivers the narration while walking among them, never more than a few steps from someone’s shoulder.
The production pairs couture costumes and contemporary dance with a neo-classical electronic score. Movement direction is by Kai Navarro, and Maya has worked closely with him to make the narrator’s path through the crowd feel unhurried and deliberate. Rehearsals start with the route itself, walked again and again until her timing works no matter where the audience happens to stand.
On screen: ‘The Glass Meridian’
Maya will lead ‘The Glass Meridian’, an eight-episode limited drama series from Molang Studio Productions. She plays an architect who returns home to rebuild her family’s theatre, a role that draws on her own years backstage. She has been part of early development conversations, sharing notes on how a working theatre actually runs from the wings. The series is in development, the writers’ room is complete, and a platform partner has not yet been announced.
“She’s trying to rebuild a building, but really she’s trying to rebuild a family. I know a lot about the smell of old theatres.” — Maya Chen
Working with Maya
Maya’s calendar is planned well ahead around stage runs, which usually means fixed blocks of availability between productions. She considers stage and screen leads, narration and voice work, and a limited number of brand campaigns that suit her work. Read-throughs and chemistry sessions can usually be arranged in London or Los Angeles.
For casting and booking inquiries, contact [email protected]. Press and interview requests go to [email protected].
