
Maxine Peake
Born
July 14, 1974 (50 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Westhoughton, Lancashire, England, UK
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

Words of War
Anna Politkovskaya
2025

Art Matters
Self
2024

Woken
Helen
2024

Tish
Tish Murtha (voice)
2023

Dance First
Barbara
2023

Choked Up
Fiona Lacey
2023

Wendell & Wild
Irmgard Klaxon (voice)
2022
Inner Polar Bear
Narrator (voice)
2022

Lapushka!
Scoot Piccolo
2022

Something Out of Nothing
2022

The Real Anne: Unfinished Business
Self- Presenter
2022

Where We Used to Meet
2021

Surfaces
Alix
2020

The Great Mountain Sheep Gather
Self - Narrator
2020

It's Me
Miriam
2020

Fanny Lye Deliver'd
Fanny Lye
2019

Judy
Judy
2019

Peterloo
Nellie
2018

Funny Cow
Funny Cow
2018

Wonders of the Moon
Narrator (voice)
2018

Men Who Sleep in Cars
Sarah
2017

Cake
2017

Generation '66
Narrator
2016

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Titania
2016

Red Top
Rebekah Brooks
2016

I Wish For You
Grown Up Mia
2016

The Falling
Eileen Lamont
2015

Hamlet
Hamlet
2015

Strange Weather
Jane
2015

The Theory of Everything
Elaine Mason
2014

Keeping Rosy
Charlotte
2014

Run & Jump
Vanetia
2014

Keeping Up with the Joneses
Celia
2013

Svengali
Angie
2013
The Heart Fails Without Warning
Mother
2013

Private Peaceful
Hazel Peaceful
2012

Best Laid Plans
Isabel
2012

Edge
Elly
2010
Imaginary Friend
Pauline
2010

The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister
Anne Lister
2010

Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1980
Helen Marshall
2009

Clubbed
Angela
2008

Hancock & Joan
Joan Le Mesurier
2008

Bike Squad
WPC Kate McFay
2008
Would Like To Meet
George's Mum
2007
I Am Bob
Marilyn Monroe Lookalike/Compere's Assistant
2007
Confessions of a Diary Secretary
Tracey Temple
2007

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
Self
2007
The Madness of the Dance
2006

Frozen
Ticket Attendant
2005

Faith
Linda
2005

Christmas Lights
Pauline
2004

All or Nothing
Party girl
2002

Hamilton Mattress
Lulu (voice)
2002

Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings
Self
2000
Girls' Night
Sharon
1998
I Swear

Irvine Welsh: Reality is Not Enough
Narrator
2025
Quiet on Set: The Class Division in the Film Industry?
Self
2025

Say Nothing
Older Dolours Price · (9 episodes)
2024

Secret Life of the Safari Park
Narrator · (6 episodes)
2024

Art That Made Us
Self - Actrice (Rules of the Game, Anne) · (2 episodes)
2022

Rules of the Game
Sam Thompson · (4 episodes)
2022

Anne
Anne Williams · (4 episodes)
2022

Star Wars: Visions
Kalina Kalfus (voice) · (1 episode)
2021

Alan Bennett's Talking Heads
Miss Fozzard · (1 episode)
2020
Be Still My Beating Heart
2019

The Bisexual
Sadie · (6 episodes)
2018

The Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca
Herself
2018

Gwen
Elen
2018

Ceremony: The Return of Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels (voice)
2018

The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2018

The Priest
2017

Unseen
Emma
2017

Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle
Narrator
2017

Three Girls
Sara Rowbotham · (3 episodes)
2017

Bunch of Kunst - A Film About Sleaford Mods
Self (archive footage)
2017
We Have Been Watching
Self · (5 episodes)
2017
Artsnight
Self - Presenter · (1 episode)
2015

The Shuttleworths
Helen Bach
2015

Inside No. 9
Nadia · (1 episode)
2014

The Village
Grace Middleton · (12 episodes)
2013

Room at the Top
Alice Aisgill · (2 episodes)
2012

The Hollow Crown
Doll Tearsheet · (2 episodes)
2012

DeafBlind
Maggie
2011

Black Mirror
Bella · (1 episode)
2011

Silk
Martha Costello · (18 episodes)
2011

Red Riding
(1 episode)
2009

The Devil's Whore
Elizabeth Lilburne · (4 episodes)
2008

The Street
(1 episode)
2006

The Fear of Trilogy
2006
Twisting My Melon
Linda Ryder

Little Dorrit
Miss Wade · (14 episodes)
2008

Criminal Justice
Juliet Miller · (5 episodes)
2008

Fairy Tales
(1 episode)
2008
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
Self · (1 episode)
2007

The Graham Norton Show
Self · (2 episodes)
2007

See No Evil: The Moors Murders
Myra Hindley · (2 episodes)
2006

Shameless
(6 episodes)
2004

Shameless
Veronica Fisher · (17 episodes)
2004

Comedy Connections
(1 episode)
2003

Early Doors
Janice · (6 episodes)
2003

Timeshift
Self - Narrator · (1 episode)
2002

Linda Green
Receptionist · (1 episode)
2001

Messiah
DS Vickie Clarke · (3 episodes)
2001

Clocking Off
Marie Leach · (1 episode)
2000

Sunburn
Sue · (1 episode)
1999

dinnerladies
Twinkle · (16 episodes)
1998

Jonathan Creek
Marion Cretiss · (1 episode)
1997

Dalziel & Pascoe
(1 episode)
1996

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
Photocopy Assistant · (1 episode)
1996

ChuckleVision
(1 episode)
1987
The Dispatcher
(0 episode)