Leonardo Dicaprio in Titanic was an awakening for starry eyed teenage girls worldwide. Years later, those girls are now women, and the effects are much the same.
Seeing the film as a young girl with her mother in Taiwan, J’ Ma’s was not immune to Leo’s charm. Her starry eyes, though, were not awestruck with the actor, but at the acting. And so, a dream was born. J’ Ma would become an actress.
As with the Titanic, this dream did not experience smooth sailing. When J’ Ma informed her mother that acting was the career for her, the news was met with crude dismissal.
‘This is going to break your heart,’ says J’ Ma, laughing softly. ‘My mum said, “you’ll never make it because you’re not pretty enough”. I was a young girl, that really hit me. Massively.’
So, with her mother’s words of encouragement, J’ Ma tucked the dream away, and stored it as a passing fancy that had no hope of coming true.
Moving from Taiwan to Australia alone when she was a teenager, J’ Ma set about establishing herself, studying and working, and gaining citizenship. After many years and a tough breakup, when the weight of the dream became too heavy, J’ Ma made a choice. It was either give acting a chance, or forever wonder what if?
‘I thought I’ve got nothing else to lose. If I don’t, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life,’ explains J’ Ma.
She began acting classes, but J’ Ma still had her reservations. As an Australian of Taiwanese descent, and with her mother’s words hanging above her, J’ Ma battled with imposter syndrome and insecurity over how she looked and how her accent sounded.
Alongside honing her craft in the acting classes, J’ Ma has made lasting relationships with other like-minded talent. One of her dearest friends, Caitlyn, pushed her to keep striving, and told her that her accent and her heritage are what makes her so valuable and unique.
‘Growing up here in Australia, I never really saw anyone that looked like me on TV,’ explains J’ Ma. ‘It’s better now, it’s slowly changing. I want people to understand that it doesn’t matter where anyone is from. That’s why acting is so special to me. Connecting people together, despite what they look like, is what really matters to me.’
J’ Ma takes inspiration from other Asian actresses, stars like Lucy Liu and Michelle Yeoh.
Tragically in 2021, J’ Ma was heartbroken at the sudden death of Caitlyn. But J’ Ma did not want Caitlyn’s guidance, her acting expertise, and her encouragement to be lost. J’ Ma now says she acts not for her own dream, but for Caitlyn, too.
‘Caitlyn was so special,’ says J’ Ma, her voice thick with emotion. ‘I don’t want people to forget her. She was so talented. So beautiful. I act to remember Caitlyn, and I talk about her for other people to remember Caitlyn.’
She has been cast in 22 productions, including Ai En in Together (2020), and Jay in Mystika (2023). Most recently, she played Anya in Streets of Deceit (2025), and the eponymous lead in Zilia (2026).
She is the lead in a short film titled Vincent (2026) focused on domestic violence awareness. Upcoming for J’ Ma is a project named Mind the Gap about a women’s journey finding herself and her faith, and a Christian film called Proverbs 22:6, about the realities of child human trafficking.
J’ Ma is grateful for the support of her agents. Paul Newlands from Crème Management in Brisbane, Theo Caesar in the United States, and Stanley from AWM in Taiwan.
To contact J’ Ma, visit her website www.jmaactress.com or email her at [email protected]
