Maya Sansa is of Italian and Iranian descent. As a teenager she moved to London, where she lived for many years until graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in 1999. She made her film debut that same year in La balia (1999), a role that won her an Italian Golden Globe award (Globo d'oro) for Best Breakthrough Actress and a Golden Ciak award (Ciak d'oro) for Best Supporting Actress.