- published: 27 Feb 2012
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Jason Maza, born 1987 in East London, is a British actor and producer.
Born and brought up in London, he played semi-professional football before turning to an acting career. At 18 Maza gained a place at Central School of Speech and Drama; however, he turned down his place in order to continue working as an actor.
Maza's career started within the UK TV industry with guest lead appearances in ITV's Touch of Frost, Whitechapel series 2 and most noteworthy in "Tracks", an episode of crime series Trial & Retribution, where he gained glowing reviews from The Independent on Sunday for his role as a gay teenage misfit.
Maza had lead parts in Channel Four's The Unsinkable Titanic. Building a platform in TV he then went onto film, appearing in Life and Lyrics, Rise of the Footsoldier, Special People,Bafta-nominated Shifty,Dolphins, Bafta-nominated Fish Tank, 2010 saw Maza in several films including Anuvahood, Tribe with David Essex, horror film The Tapes, and urban thriller Victim.
2010 also saw Maza move into producing, co-founding the production company Pure Films. In one year he produced four films, including Terry, which he made for £500 and is being distributed in March 2011 by Lionsgate. Suicide Kids, in which he stars alongside Robert Sheehan and Reggie Yates, came out in cinemas in 2011 as did his film The Tapes which he also stars in.
Louisa Lytton (born 7 February 1989) is an English actress born in Camden and living in Islington. She rose to fame in 2005 when joining EastEnders as Ruby Allen. After leaving EastEnders in late 2006, Lytton joined The Bill as PC Beth Green, a role she played from May 2007 to March 2009. She also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2006. Lytton also represented the UK at the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 in Glasgow and finished in 9th place out of 14 with 47 points.
Lytton attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, London. She is close friends with her former EastEnders co-stars Kara Tointon (Dawn Swann), Lacey Turner (Stacey Slater), and Matt Di Angelo (Deano Wicks). She is also friends with singer and Strictly Come Dancing rival Emma Bunton. She is of Italian descent on her mother's side and her cousin is Lisa Maffia of So Solid fame. She also dated Aston Merrygold of JLS until February 2007.[citation needed]
Lytton made her first appearance in EastEnders on 18 March 2005, playing Johnny Allen's daughter Ruby Allen. Weeks after winning the "Sexiest Female" award at the British Soap Awards where she cut a figure wearing a stunning thigh revealing white dress. In May 2006 it was announced that Lytton would be leaving EastEnders in November 2006. On the exit of her character, Lytton had commented: "I've really enjoyed my time at EastEnders. It has been a great experience which I will never forget but I am now looking forward to trying new things and not getting typecast."