Jason Maza is an English actor, producer, director and screenwriter.
Early life
Maza grew up in Romford. He began acting at seven years of age.
Career
Maza was accepted to the Central School of Speech and Drama, but at that time, he was already working as an actor so decided not to attend.
Maza starred in the 2007 film Special People, which received attention for its portrayal of people with disabilities.
In 2010, Maza was part of the original cast of Sucker Punch, the award-winning play written by Roy Williams, at the Royal Court Theatre in London. He starred alongside Daniel Kaluuya and Anthony Welsh in the production.
Maza’s other early roles include parts in the police procedural series The Bill, the medical drama Casualty, and the detective series A Touch of Frost.
Although primarily an actor, Maza began work as a film producer in 2011, setting up Think Big Productions. Since then he has produced 14 films. Titles include: 10x10 starring Luke Evans, and Brotherhood for Lionsgate which grossed just shy of £4,000,000 at the UK Box Office. Maza also appeared alongside Evans as a supporting actor in 10x10.
Maza cites Ray Winstone as one of his favorite actors and biggest inspirations, "If you look what he has achieved, he started off as a working class British film actor to a big star in Hollywood. We’re from similar backgrounds as well as the same area so I suppose I can relate to him. If I have half the career he has I’ll be very happy".
In 2011, Maza also co-starred with Tulisa Contostavlos in the slasher film Demons Never Die.
Maza produced and starred in the comedy film The Hooligan Factory in 2013. He starred alongside Nick Nevern, who also directed and co-wrote the film. Maza appeared as Johnny Beckett in the period drama Call the Midwife in 2016.
In 2017, Maza teamed up with Noel Clarke, launching Unstoppable Film and Television as co-CEO, after working with him on the Universal Pictures Brit-comedy The Knot. In 2018, Unstoppable joined the All3Media Group, forming Unstoppable Film & Television, with Clarke and Maza stating: "With the full support of All3Media we’re aiming to build on our work so far, finding new talent and creating authentic drama for the widest possible audience." As part of Unstoppable, in 2020, Maza produced and starred in a loose adaptation of Oliver Twist, entitled Twist alongside Michael Caine, Rita Ora, Lena Headey and Rafferty Law.
Maza produced the film Songbird, also titled Alright Now, which starred Cobie Smulders and began filming in 2017. Other projects Maza appeared in include the television drama Dark Heart and the crime drama film Welcome to the Punch. He also appeared in the BBC comedy series Man Like Mobeen. In 2019, Maza was cast alongside Michael Jai White and Gina Gershon in the sports drama Cagefighter. He also served as an executive producer for the 2020 thriller drama series The Drowning, while also appearing in the series as D.S. Harvey.
Maza and his partner Noel Clarke were both suspended by All3Media Group in April 2021 after the misconduct allegations against Clarke. Filming of Sky One’s British police-drama Bulletproof, in which Maza was starring, was suspended when the allegations surfaced, and cancelled a few weeks later. On 21 July 2021, Maza formally left the production company Unstoppable Film and Television.
In 2023, Maza co-wrote and executive produced Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance''.
Personal life
Maza has a brother, Taylor, who is also an actor. In June 2023 Maza got married to Lowri Whitwell.
Credits
Film
Television
Theatre
References
External links
Showreel
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century English male actors English people of Portuguese descent English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors Film producers from London Male actors from London People from Romford
