Person
Maxine Peake
Acting · Born 1974-07-14 · Westhoughton, Lancashire, England, UK
Biography
Maxine Peake (born 14 July 1974) is an English stage, radio, film and television actress, playwright, producer, director and political activist, who made her name as Twinkle in Victoria Wood's sitcom Dinnerladies. She has since played Veronica in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series Shameless, barrister Martha Costello in the BBC legal drama Silk and Grace Middleton in The Village. She is also an accomplished stage actress, having played the title role in Hamlet, and had a role in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything. In 2018 she played the lead in the film Funny Cow and had a starring role in Mike Leigh's epic Peterloo, a film very close to her heart.
Known for
Black Mirror
Bella
The Graham Norton Show
Self
Shameless
Veronica Fisher
The One Show
Self - Guest
Star Wars: Visions
Kalina Kalfus (voice)
Silk
Martha Costello QC
Last Seen
2026
Inside No. 9
Nadia
I Swear
Dottie
Jonathan Creek
Marion Cretiss
Filmography
- 2026Last Seen
- 2026BaitHelen
- 2026Becoming Victoria WoodSelf
- 2025Laundreams
- 2025The Occupant of the RoomThe Englishwoman (voice)
- 2025Irvine Welsh: Reality Is Not EnoughNarrator
- 2025I SwearDottie
- 2025Quiet on Set: The Class Division in the Film Industry?Self
- 2025Words of WarAnna Politkovskaya
- 2024The Haunted SeasonThe Englishwoman (voice)
- 2024Say NothingOlder Dolours Price
- 2024Art MattersSelf
- 2024WokenHelen
- 2024Secret Life of the Safari ParkNarrator
- 2023TishTish Murtha (voice)
- 2023Dance FirstBarbara
- 2023Choked UpFiona Lacey
- 2022Wendell & WildIrmgard Klaxon (voice)
- 2022Inner Polar BearNarrator (voice)
- 2022Lapushka!Scoot Piccolo
- 2022Something Out of Nothing
- 2022IncompatibleDirector
- 2022Art That Made UsSelf - Actrice (Rules of the Game, Anne)
- 2022Rules of the GameSam Thompson
- 2022The Real Anne: Unfinished BusinessSelf- Presenter
- 2022AnneAnne Williams
- 2021Where We Used to Meet
- 2021Star Wars: VisionsKalina Kalfus (voice)
- 2021DoughnutThanks
- 2020MandySusan Blower
- 2020Alan Bennett's Talking HeadsMiss Fozzard
- 2020SurfacesAlix
- 2020The Great Mountain Sheep GatherSelf - Narrator
- 2020It's MeMiriam
- 2019Fanny Lye Deliver'dFanny Lye
- 2019Be Still My Beating Heart
- 2019JudyJudy
- 2018PeterlooNellie
- 2018The BisexualSadie
- 2018The Last Testament of Lillian BiloccaSelf
- 2018GwenElen
- 2018Ceremony: The Return of Friedrich EngelsFriedrich Engels (voice)
- 2018Funny CowFunny Cow
- 2018Dinnerladies DiariesSelf
- 2018The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To CancerSelf - Guest
- 2018Wonders of the MoonNarrator (voice)
- 2017The Priest
- 2017Men Who Sleep in CarsSarah
- 2017Cake
- 2017UnseenEmma
- 2017Dispossession: The Great Social Housing SwindleNarrator
- 2017Three GirlsSara Rowbotham
- 2017Bunch of Kunst - A Film About Sleaford ModsSelf (archive footage)
- 2017We Have Been WatchingSelf
- 2016Generation '66Narrator
- 2016A Midsummer Night's DreamTitania
- 2016Red TopRebekah Brooks
- 2016I Wish For YouGrown Up Mia
- 2015The FallingEileen Lamont
- 2015HamletHamlet
- 2015ArtsnightSelf - Presenter
- 2015Strange WeatherJane
- 2015The ShuttleworthsHelen Bach
- 2014The Theory of EverythingElaine Mason
- 2014Keeping RosyCharlotte
- 2014Inside No. 9Nadia
- 2014Run & JumpVanetia
- 2013Keeping Up with the JonesesCelia
- 2013SvengaliAngie
- 2013The VillageGrace Middleton
- 2013The Heart Fails Without WarningMother
- 2012Private PeacefulHazel Peaceful
- 2012Room at the TopAlice Aisgill
- 2012The Hollow CrownDoll Tearsheet
- 2012Best Laid PlansIsabel
- 2011DeafBlindMaggie
- 2011Black MirrorBella
- 2011SilkMartha Costello QC
- 2010EdgeElly
- 2010Imaginary FriendPauline
- 2010The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne ListerAnne Lister
- 2009Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1980Helen Marshall
- 2009Red Riding
- 2008The Devil's WhoreElizabeth Lilburne
- 2008Little DorritMiss Wade
- 2008ClubbedAngela
- 2008Criminal JusticeJuliet Miller
- 2008Hancock & JoanJoan Le Mesurier
- 2008Fairy TalesCindy Mellor
- 2008Bike SquadWPC Kate McFay
- 2007The Alan Titchmarsh ShowSelf
- 2007Would Like To MeetGeorge's Mum
- 2007I Am BobMarilyn Monroe Lookalike/Compere's Assistant
- 2007Confessions of a Diary SecretaryTracey Temple
- 2007The Graham Norton ShowSelf
- 2007The 50 Greatest Television DramasSelf
- 2006The One ShowSelf - Guest
- 2006See No Evil: The Moors MurdersMyra Hindley
- 2006The Street
- 2006The Madness of the Dance
- 2006The Fear of Trilogy
- 2005FrozenTicket Attendant
- 2005FaithLinda
- 2004Christmas LightsPauline
- 2004ShamelessVeronica Fisher
- 2003Comedy Connections
- 2003Early DoorsJanice
- 2002All or NothingParty girl
- 2002TimeshiftSelf - Narrator
- 2002Hamilton MattressLulu (voice)
- 2001Linda GreenReceptionist
- 2001MessiahDS Vickie Clarke
- 2000Victoria Wood with All the TrimmingsSelf
- 2000Clocking OffMarie Leach
- 1999SunburnSue
- 1998dinnerladiesTwinkle
- 1998Girls' NightSharon
- 1997Jonathan CreekMarion Cretiss
- 1996Hetty Wainthropp InvestigatesPhotocopy Assistant
- 1987ChuckleVision
- —Twisting My MelonLinda Ryder
- —The Bright Side Running Club
- —First Day on EarthHelen
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