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
| Birth Location | Westhoughton, Lancashire, England, UK |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974-07-14 |
Movies
Woken
as Helen
2024
Tish
as Tish Murtha (voice)
2023
Dance First
as Barbara
2023
Wendell & Wild
as Irmgard Klaxon (voice)
2022
Inner Polar Bear
as Narrator (voice)
2022
Lapushka!
as Scoot Piccolo
2022
The Real Anne: Unfinished Business
as Self- Presenter
2022
Fanny Lye Deliver'd
as Fanny Lye
2021
Surfaces
as Alix
2020
The Great Mountain Sheep Gather
as Self - Narrator
2020
It's Me
as Miriam
2020
Judy
as Judy
2019
Peterloo
as Nellie
2018
The Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca
as Herself
2018
Gwen
as Elen
2018
Ceremony: The Return of Friedrich Engels
as Friedrich Engels (voice)
2018
Funny Cow
as Funny Cow
2018
Wonders of the Moon
as Narrator (voice)
2018
2017
Men Who Sleep in Cars
as Sarah
2017
2017
Unseen
as Emma
2017
Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle
as Narrator
2017
Bunch of Kunst - A Film About Sleaford Mods
as Self (archive footage)
2017
Generation '66
as Narrator
2016
A Midsummer Night's Dream
as Titania
2016
Red Top
as Rebekah Brooks
2016
I Wish For You
as Grown Up Mia
2016
The Falling
as Eileen Lamont
2015
Hamlet
as Hamlet
2015
Strange Weather
as Jane
2015
The Shuttleworths
as Helen Bach
2015
The Theory of Everything
as Elaine Mason
2014
Keeping Rosy
as Charlotte
2014
Run & Jump
as Vanetia
2014
Keeping Up with the Joneses
as Celia
2013
Svengali
as Angie
2013
The Heart Fails Without Warning
as Mother
2013
Private Peaceful
as Hazel Peaceful
2012
Best Laid Plans
as Isabel
2012
DeafBlind
as Maggie
2011
Edge
as Elly
2010
Imaginary Friend
as Pauline
2010
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister
as Anne Lister
2010
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1980
as Helen Marshall
2009
Clubbed
as Angela
2008
Hancock & Joan
as Joan Le Mesurier
2008
Would Like To Meet
as George's Mum
2007
I Am Bob
as Marilyn Monroe Lookalike/Compere's Assistant
2007
Confessions of a Diary Secretary
as Tracey Temple
2007
2007
2006
Frozen
as Ticket Attendant
2005
Faith
as Linda
2005
Christmas Lights
as Pauline
2004
All or Nothing
as Party girl
2002
Hamilton Mattress
as Lulu (voice)
2002
Girls' Night
as Sharon
1998
Anna
as Anna Politkovskaya
-
Twisting My Melon
as Linda Ryder
-
Movies
Incompatible
Director
2022
Doughnut
Thanks
2021
2018
2018
Funny Cow
Executive Producer
2018
The Priest
Writer
2017