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)