Maariah Hussain is an English actress born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. She began acting from an early age on stage; at age 16 she made her professional onscreen debut on the Channel 4 drama series, Ackley Bridge as Alya Nawaz. Hussain trained as an actress at the Yorkshire School of Acting in Bradford, furthermore studying Directing and Cinematography at the École Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle in Paris. She currently studies Anthropology at the London School of Economics.