Acting · Westhoughton, Lancashire, England, UK · Born July 14, 1974
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.
Last Seen
2026
TVBait
2026
as Helen
MovieBecoming Victoria Wood
2026
as Self
MovieLaundreams
2025
MovieThe Occupant of the Room
2025
as The Englishwoman (voice)
MovieIrvine Welsh: Reality Is Not Enough
2025
as Narrator
MovieI Swear
2025
as Dottie
MovieQuiet on Set: The Class Division in the Film Industry?
2025
as Self
MovieWords of War
2025
as Anna Politkovskaya
TVThe Haunted Season
2024
as The Englishwoman (voice)
TVSay Nothing
2024
as Older Dolours Price
MovieArt Matters
2024
as Self
MovieWoken
2024
as Helen
TVSecret Life of the Safari Park
2024
as Narrator
MovieTish
2023
as Tish Murtha (voice)
MovieDance First
2023
as Barbara
MovieChoked Up
2023
as Fiona Lacey
MovieWendell & Wild
2022
as Irmgard Klaxon (voice)
Inner Polar Bear
2022
as Narrator (voice)
MovieLapushka!
2022
as Scoot Piccolo
MovieSomething Out of Nothing
2022
TVArt That Made Us
2022
as Self - Actrice (Rules of the Game, Anne)
TVRules of the Game
2022
as Sam Thompson
MovieThe Real Anne: Unfinished Business
2022
as Self- Presenter
TVAnne
2022
as Anne Williams
MovieWhere We Used to Meet
2021
TVStar Wars: Visions
2021
as Kalina Kalfus (voice)
TVMandy
2020
as Susan Blower
TVAlan Bennett's Talking Heads
2020
as Miss Fozzard
MovieSurfaces
2020
as Alix
MovieThe Great Mountain Sheep Gather
2020
as Self - Narrator
MovieIt's Me
2020
as Miriam
MovieFanny Lye Deliver'd
2019
as Fanny Lye
Be Still My Beating Heart
2019
MovieJudy
2019
as Judy
MoviePeterloo
2018
as Nellie
TVThe Bisexual
2018
as Sadie
MovieThe Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca
2018
as Self
MovieGwen
2018
as Elen
MovieCeremony: The Return of Friedrich Engels
2018
as Friedrich Engels (voice)
MovieFunny Cow
2018
as Funny Cow
TVDinnerladies Diaries
2018
as Self
TVThe Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer
2018
as Self - Guest
MovieWonders of the Moon
2018
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Priest
2017
MovieMen Who Sleep in Cars
2017
as Sarah
MovieCake
2017
MovieUnseen
2017
as Emma
MovieDispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle
2017
as Narrator
TVThree Girls
2017
as Sara Rowbotham
MovieBunch of Kunst - A Film About Sleaford Mods
2017
as Self (archive footage)
TVWe Have Been Watching
2017
as Self
MovieGeneration '66
2016
as Narrator
MovieA Midsummer Night's Dream
2016
as Titania
MovieRed Top
2016
as Rebekah Brooks
MovieI Wish For You
2016
as Grown Up Mia
MovieThe Falling
2015
as Eileen Lamont
MovieHamlet
2015
as Hamlet
Artsnight
2015
as Self - Presenter
MovieStrange Weather
2015
as Jane
MovieThe Shuttleworths
2015
as Helen Bach
MovieThe Theory of Everything
2014
as Elaine Mason
MovieKeeping Rosy
2014
as Charlotte
TVInside No. 9
2014
as Nadia
MovieRun & Jump
2014
as Vanetia
MovieKeeping Up with the Joneses
2013
as Celia
MovieSvengali
2013
as Angie
TVThe Village
2013
as Grace Middleton
The Heart Fails Without Warning
2013
as Mother
MoviePrivate Peaceful
2012
as Hazel Peaceful
TVRoom at the Top
2012
as Alice Aisgill
TVThe Hollow Crown
2012
as Doll Tearsheet
MovieBest Laid Plans
2012
as Isabel
MovieDeafBlind
2011
as Maggie
TVBlack Mirror
2011
as Bella
TVSilk
2011
as Martha Costello QC
MovieEdge
2010
as Elly
Imaginary Friend
2010
as Pauline
MovieThe Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister
2010
as Anne Lister
MovieRed Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1980
2009
as Helen Marshall
TVRed Riding
2009
TVThe Devil's Whore
2008
as Elizabeth Lilburne
TVLittle Dorrit
2008
as Miss Wade
MovieClubbed
2008
as Angela
TVCriminal Justice
2008
as Juliet Miller
MovieHancock & Joan
2008
as Joan Le Mesurier
TVFairy Tales
2008
as Cindy Mellor
MovieBike Squad
2008
as WPC Kate McFay
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
2007
as Self
Would Like To Meet
2007
as George's Mum
I Am Bob
2007
as Marilyn Monroe Lookalike/Compere's Assistant
Confessions of a Diary Secretary
2007
as Tracey Temple
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
MovieThe 50 Greatest Television Dramas
2007
as Self
TVThe One Show
2006
as Self - Guest
TVSee No Evil: The Moors Murders
2006
as Myra Hindley
TVThe Street
2006
The Madness of the Dance
2006
MovieThe Fear of Trilogy
2006
MovieFrozen
2005
as Ticket Attendant
MovieFaith
2005
as Linda
MovieChristmas Lights
2004
as Pauline
TVShameless
2004
as Veronica Fisher
TVComedy Connections
2003
TVEarly Doors
2003
as Janice
MovieAll or Nothing
2002
as Party girl
TVTimeshift
2002
as Self - Narrator
MovieHamilton Mattress
2002
as Lulu (voice)
TVLinda Green
2001
as Receptionist
TVMessiah
2001
as DS Vickie Clarke
MovieVictoria Wood with All the Trimmings
2000
as Self
TVClocking Off
2000
as Marie Leach
TVSunburn
1999
as Sue
TVdinnerladies
1998
as Twinkle
MovieGirls' Night
1998
as Sharon
TVJonathan Creek
1997
as Marion Cretiss
TVHetty Wainthropp Investigates
1996
as Photocopy Assistant
TVChuckleVision
1987
MovieTwisting My Melon
as Linda Ryder
The Bright Side Running Club
First Day on Earth
as Helen
