Maya Jama is taking acting classes.
The 26-year-old star made her acting debut in Netflix’s ‘The Duchess’ but she’s also been on the hunt for other parts, so has been having lessons to prove she is serious about the craft and to break away from her natural instincts as a presenter.
She said: “Before the audition for 'The Duchess' - and I've been doing some other auditions - I did have some acting classes.
“I'm very aware that acting is a very serious job and people train for years, so I haven't been taking it lightly.
"As a TV presenter you spend so long working on being yourself on camera, so being someone completely different is a challenge."
While Maya was tight-lipped about most of the things she’s auditioned for, she revealed she was turned down for a role in 'Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire' but tries not to get too disheartened by the rejections.
She said: "I can say one I didn't get. It was 'Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire' on Netflix, with Will Ferrell. I went for the role of the Italian lady and my Italian accent was so trash! I didn't expect to get that one.
"I try to take each no as that it wasn't right for me or that I need to work harder. The other ones haven't come out yet so I can't say. I'm supposed to be doing a film but it's been consistently delayed because of coronavirus. It's scheduled for December now."
Maya admitted she suffers with imposter syndrome, and while she fulfilled a dream in presenting ‘Save Our Summer’ with Peter Crouch earlier this year, she worried she wasn’t “worthy” of the job.
Asked by OK! magazine if she experiences imposter syndrome, she said: “Definitely. I've never hosted a BBC One prime time show before and in my mind that's a thing of dreams.
“I used to think, 'One day I'll be doing that.' Then you enter the room and you're like, 'Oh God, there are absolute legends who have filled this time slot. Am I actually worthy of this? Am I good enough?'
“But you just have to go for it and not let those doubts take over."
