Jin Maley (they/them) is a classically trained actor known for playing the Communications Officer Ensign Kova Rin Esmar in Star Trek: Picard.
Jin started acting at Oberlin College in Ohio, where they collaborated with the theater-makers Jon Levin and Josh Luxenberg, who would become the founders of the New York-based theater company Sinking Ship Productions. During their college years, they studied abroad at the British American Drama Academy in London and apprenticed at the Williamstown Theater Festival.
After graduating from Oberlin and performing in New York with Sinking Ship and other companies, Jin moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to continue their acting training at the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater School Institute at Harvard University. They performed in lead roles at the ART in Cambridge, and a lead role in a production directed by Hungarian director Janos Szasz in Moscow. After receiving their M.F.A., they moved to Los Angeles. They have taught acting at conservatories and studios in Los Angeles and remotely.
Since 2020, Jin has been co-creating and playing the lead role in a devised theater piece with Sinking Ship Productions. The piece centers around the prophet Cassandra from Greek mythology, who can see the future but is never believed. The piece was commissioned by the Getty Villa in Los Angeles and a workshop performance was mounted at the Getty in May of 2022.
Jin publicly embraced their true gender identity in July of 2020. They are grateful to be living and working from a deeper place of authenticity.
