Maxine Peake
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
Black Mirror
Bella
2011
Series
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
Series
The One Show
Self - Guest
2006
Series
Shameless
Veronica Fisher
2004
Series
Star Wars: Visions
Kalina Kalfus (voice)
2021
Film
I Swear
Dottie
2025
Series
Inside No. 9
Nadia
2014
Series
Silk
Martha Costello QC
2011
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
Self
2007
Series
Jonathan Creek
Marion Cretiss
1997
Series
The Hollow Crown
Doll Tearsheet
2012
Series
Bait
Helen
2026
Series
Fairy Tales
Cindy Mellor
2008
Series
Say Nothing
Older Dolours Price
2024
Series
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
Photocopy Assistant
1996
Series
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer
Self - Guest
2018
Film
The Theory of Everything
Elaine Mason
2014
Series
ChuckleVision
1987
Series
The Village
Grace Middleton
2013
Series
Timeshift
Self - Narrator
2002
Series
Mandy
Susan Blower
2020
Series
Criminal Justice
Juliet Miller
2008
Series
Little Dorrit
Miss Wade
2008
Series
The Street
2006
Series
dinnerladies
Twinkle
1998
Series
Comedy Connections
2003
Film
Wendell & Wild
Irmgard Klaxon (voice)
2022
Series
Anne
Anne Williams
2022
Series
Messiah
DS Vickie Clarke
2001
Series
Clocking Off
Marie Leach
2000
Series
Red Riding
2009
Series
The Bisexual
Sadie
2018
Series
Three Girls
Sara Rowbotham
2017
Series
The Devil's Whore
Elizabeth Lilburne
2008
Series
Early Doors
Janice
2003
Last Seen
2026
Film
All or Nothing
Party girl
2002
Series
Sunburn
Sue
1999
Series
Linda Green
Receptionist
2001
Series
Dinnerladies Diaries
Self
2018
Series
Room at the Top
Alice Aisgill
2012
Film
The Falling
Eileen Lamont
2015
Series
Alan Bennett's Talking Heads
Miss Fozzard
2020
Film
Words of War
Anna Politkovskaya
2025
Film
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
Self
2007
Film
Peterloo
Nellie
2018
Be Still My Beating Heart
2019
Film
Red Top
Rebekah Brooks
2016
Film
Run & Jump
Vanetia
2014
Series
Rules of the Game
Sam Thompson
2022
Film
Funny Cow
Funny Cow
2018
Series
Art That Made Us
Self - Actrice (Rules of the Game, Anne)
2022
Film
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1980
Helen Marshall
2009
Artsnight
Self - Presenter
2015
Series
We Have Been Watching
Self
2017
Film
Laundreams
2025
Film
Dance First
Barbara
2023
Film
Fanny Lye Deliver'd
Fanny Lye
2019
Film
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Titania
2016
Film
Faith
Linda
2005
Film
Private Peaceful
Hazel Peaceful
2012
Film
Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings
Self
2000
Film
Girls' Night
Sharon
1998
Film
Frozen
Ticket Attendant
2005
Film
Tish
Tish Murtha (voice)
2023
Film
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister
Anne Lister
2010
Film
Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle
Narrator
2017
Film
Clubbed
Angela
2008
Series
Secret Life of the Safari Park
Narrator
2024
Film
Generation '66
Narrator
2016
Film
Svengali
Angie
2013
Confessions of a Diary Secretary
Tracey Temple
2007
Film
Becoming Victoria Wood
Self
2026
First Day on Earth
Helen
Film
The Shuttleworths
Helen Bach
2015
Film
DeafBlind
Maggie
2011
Film
Irvine Welsh: Reality Is Not Enough
Narrator
2025
Film
Choked Up
Fiona Lacey
2023
Film
Woken
Helen
2024
Film
Surfaces
Alix
2020
Film
Hamlet
Hamlet
2015
I Am Bob
Marilyn Monroe Lookalike/Compere's Assistant
2007
Film
Keeping Up with the Joneses
Celia
2013
Film
I Wish For You
Grown Up Mia
2016
Film
Keeping Rosy
Charlotte
2014
Film
Hancock & Joan
Joan Le Mesurier
2008
Film
Gwen
Elen
2018
Film
The Real Anne: Unfinished Business
Self- Presenter
2022
Film
Best Laid Plans
Isabel
2012
Series
The Haunted Season
The Englishwoman (voice)
2024
Inner Polar Bear
Narrator (voice)
2022
Film
Where We Used to Meet
2021
Film
Wonders of the Moon
Narrator (voice)
2018
Film
Unseen
Emma
2017
Film
Cake
2017
Film
Edge
Elly
2010
Film
The Priest
2017
Film
Hamilton Mattress
Lulu (voice)
2002
Film
Strange Weather
Jane
2015
Imaginary Friend
Pauline
2010
Film
Men Who Sleep in Cars
Sarah
2017
Film
Bunch of Kunst - A Film About Sleaford Mods
Self (archive footage)
2017
Film
Lapushka!
Scoot Piccolo
2022
Film
The Fear of Trilogy
2006
Film
Christmas Lights
Pauline
2004
Film
Bike Squad
WPC Kate McFay
2008
Film
The Great Mountain Sheep Gather
Self - Narrator
2020
Film
It's Me
Miriam
2020
Would Like To Meet
George's Mum
2007
Film
The Occupant of the Room
The Englishwoman (voice)
2025
The Heart Fails Without Warning
Mother
2013
The Bright Side Running Club
Film
Ceremony: The Return of Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels (voice)
2018
The Madness of the Dance
2006
Film
Art Matters
Self
2024
Film
The Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca
Self
2018
Film
Something Out of Nothing
2022
Film
Quiet on Set: The Class Division in the Film Industry?
Self
2025
Film
Judy
Judy
2019
Series
See No Evil: The Moors Murders
Myra Hindley
2006