Maxine Peake

Maxine Peake

🎂 14th July 1974 (51 yrs) 📍 Westhoughton, Lancashire, England, UK

Known For

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas

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.

Maxine Peake

Movies Featuring Maxine Peake

Becoming Victoria Wood

Becoming Victoria Wood (2026)

as Self
The Occupant of the Room

The Occupant of the Room (2025)

Irvine Welsh: Reality Is Not Enough

Irvine Welsh: Reality Is Not Enough (2025)

as Narrator
I Swear

I Swear (2025)

as Dottie Achenbach
Quiet on Set: The Class Division in the Film Industry?

Quiet on Set: The Class Division in the Film Industry? (2025)

as Self
Words of War

Words of War (2025)

as Anna Politkovskaya
Art Matters

Art Matters (2024)

as Self
Woken

Woken (2024)

as Helen
Tish

Tish (2023)

as Tish Murtha (voice)
Dance First

Dance First (2023)

as Barbara
Choked Up

Choked Up (2023)

as Fiona Lacey
Wendell & Wild

Wendell & Wild (2022)

as Irmgard Klaxon (voice)
No Image

Inner Polar Bear (2022)

as Narrator (voice)
Lapushka!

Lapushka! (2022)

as Scoot Piccolo
Something Out of Nothing

Something Out of Nothing (2022)

The Real Anne: Unfinished Business

The Real Anne: Unfinished Business (2022)

as Self- Presenter
Where We Used to Meet

Where We Used to Meet (2021)

Surfaces

Surfaces (2020)

as Alix
The Great Mountain Sheep Gather

The Great Mountain Sheep Gather (2020)

as Self - Narrator
It's Me

It's Me (2020)

as Miriam
Fanny Lye Deliver'd

Fanny Lye Deliver'd (2019)

as Fanny Lye
No Image

Be Still My Beating Heart (2019)

Judy

Judy (2019)

as Judy
Peterloo

Peterloo (2018)

as Nellie
The Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca

The Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca (2018)

as Herself
Gwen

Gwen (2018)

as Elen
Ceremony: The Return of Friedrich Engels

Ceremony: The Return of Friedrich Engels (2018)

as Friedrich Engels (voice)
Funny Cow

Funny Cow (2018)

as Funny Cow
Wonders of the Moon

Wonders of the Moon (2018)

as Narrator (voice)
The Priest

The Priest (2017)

Men Who Sleep in Cars

Men Who Sleep in Cars (2017)

as Sarah
Cake

Cake (2017)

Unseen

Unseen (2017)

as Emma
Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle

Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle (2017)

as Narrator
Bunch of Kunst - A Film About Sleaford Mods

Bunch of Kunst - A Film About Sleaford Mods (2017)

as Self (archive footage)
Generation '66

Generation '66 (2016)

as Narrator
A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream (2016)

as Titania
Red Top

Red Top (2016)

as Rebekah Brooks
I Wish For You

I Wish For You (2016)

as Grown Up Mia
The Falling

The Falling (2015)

as Eileen Lamont
Hamlet

Hamlet (2015)

as Hamlet
Strange Weather

Strange Weather (2015)

as Jane
The Shuttleworths

The Shuttleworths (2015)

as Helen Bach
The Theory of Everything

The Theory of Everything (2014)

as Elaine Mason
Keeping Rosy

Keeping Rosy (2014)

as Charlotte
Run & Jump

Run & Jump (2014)

as Vanetia
Keeping Up with the Joneses

Keeping Up with the Joneses (2013)

as Celia
Svengali

Svengali (2013)

as Angie
No Image

The Heart Fails Without Warning (2013)

as Mother
Private Peaceful

Private Peaceful (2012)

as Hazel Peaceful
Best Laid Plans

Best Laid Plans (2012)

as Isabel
DeafBlind

DeafBlind (2011)

as Maggie
Edge

Edge (2010)

as Elly
No Image

Imaginary Friend (2010)

as Pauline
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister

The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (2010)

as Anne Lister
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1980

Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1980 (2009)

as Helen Marshall
Clubbed

Clubbed (2008)

as Angela
Hancock & Joan

Hancock & Joan (2008)

as Joan Le Mesurier
Bike Squad

Bike Squad (2008)

as WPC Kate McFay
No Image

Would Like To Meet (2007)

as George's Mum
No Image

I Am Bob (2007)

as Marilyn Monroe Lookalike/Compere's Assistant
No Image

Confessions of a Diary Secretary (2007)

as Tracey Temple
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas (2007)

as Self
No Image

The Madness of the Dance (2006)

The Fear of Trilogy

The Fear of Trilogy (2006)

Frozen

Frozen (2005)

as Ticket Attendant
Faith

Faith (2005)

as Linda
Christmas Lights

Christmas Lights (2004)

as Pauline
All or Nothing

All or Nothing (2002)

as Party girl
Hamilton Mattress

Hamilton Mattress (2002)

as Lulu (voice)
Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings

Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings (2000)

as Self
No Image

Girls' Night (1998)

as Sharon
Twisting My Melon

Twisting My Melon (N/A)

as Linda Ryder