Archana Punjabi

Most Americans first saw British-born Archie Panjabi as "Pinky" Bhamra, the daughter getting married in Bend it Like Beckham!
What they didn't know was that she already had an extensive resume of both film and tv work in England, including ongoing roles in several genre series!
Since Beckham, she's had supporting roles in big-budget films like A Mighty Heart and she's won an Emmy for her performance as Kalinda Sharma on The Good Wife!

Genre appearances include...
The Infidel (Saamiya Nasir)
Dead Space: Extraction [VG](Dr. Howell)
Constant Gardner(Ghita Pearson)

Life on Mars(Maya Roy)
Espion(s) (Anna)

Traitor(Chandra Dawkin
Silent Witness(Amita Joshi)

Sea of Souls(Megan Sharma)

Ivor the Invisible(Leila)

Check out...
Archie's Official Site
Archie Panjabi Central (FanSite)

Other actresses to play Maya include...
Lisa Bonet (Life on Mars[US]) and Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen (Life on Mars [US] UnAired Pilot), both as Maya Daniels

Caryn Elaine Johnson

One of only three actresses* with an Oscar for an appearance in a genre film (1990's fantasy Ghost), Whoopi has an amazing list of genre credits in both tv and film.
Extremely talented, she can do everything (writing / producing / performing) except singing!

Genre appearances include...
Stream [webcast] (Jodi)
Life on Mars "Things to Do in New York When You Think You're Dead" (Brother Lovebutter)
Pinnochio 3000 (Cybernia)
A Knight in Camelot (Dr Vivien Morgan)
Golden Dreams (Calafia, the Queen of California / Narrator)
MonkeyBone (Death)
Magical Legend of the Leprechauns (Grand Banshee)
Alice in Wonderland (Cheshire Cat)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Raindeer; The Movie (Stormella, The Evil Ice Queen)
A Christmas Carol [1997] (Spirit of Christmas Present)
Theodore Rex (Katie Coltrane)
Fatal Beauty (Rita Rizolli)
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella [1997] (Queen Constantina)
The Lion King / The Lion King 1 1/2 (Shenzi the Hyena)
Star Trek: the Next Generation / Star Trek: Generations / Star Trek: Nemesis (Guinan)
Ghost (Oda Mae Brown)
Captain Planet & the Planeteers (Gaia / Mother Earth)
Defenders of Dynatron City (Ms. Megawatt)

Check out...
Whoopi's personal blog
A FanPage

(*Josephine Hull won the Oscar in 1950 for the fantasy Harvey, and Ruth Gordon won in 1968 for the horror tale Rosemary's Baby!)

Shenzi has also been played by Tress MacNeille in Timon & Pumba.
Gaia has also been played by Margot Kidder in The New Adventures of Captain Planet
The Queen in previous versions of Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella has been played by Ginger Rogers [1965] and Dorothy Stickney [1957]