Maxine began her acting career when she joined the youth theatre at the Octagon at the tender age of 13. After attending the youth theatre at the Royal Exchange in Manchester , Maxine then did two years at Salford College of Technology. After studying A Level Theatre Studies and Performing Arts, she then went to RADA.

She became a favourite through her part of 'Twinkle', in 'Dinner Ladies', but was seen in many other TV dramas, including 'Clocking Off' and 'Holby City'

More recently, she has received praise for her roles in 'Shameless' and 'Christmas Lights'.

For a detailed Filmography see the Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com/

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Stainforthonline interview

Adge Covell - Maxine Peake (Linda / Faith)

I managed to speak with Maxine in November 2005, a full year after 'Faith' was made.

Adge: Hello Maxine, it's a pleasure to talk with you, at last. According to the details I have, you were born in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1974…

Maxine: I was yes.

Adge: Did you go to school in Bolton?

Maxine: Yes, I went to primary school there and then I went to secondary school in a little town just outside, called West Houghton.

Adge: Was it then that you first thought about becoming an actress?

Maxine: Yes… Well, I did stuff when I was younger. I used to go to Unitarian Church and I did stuff when I went to church and I used to take part in the pantos and that, but it was only for a bit of fun. It was only on leaving school that I thought "What do I want to do for a career?" I didn't really have any idea at that time, but I liked acting so I thought I'd have a go. I didn't know how you got into it, and I didn't know anyone who was an actor. It all seemed a bit mysterious, you know?

Adge: I have some notes here and I see that you went to the Octagon Youth Theatre when you were 13.

Maxine: Yeah, I went to the Octagon Youth Theatre Club but… I thought they were all a bit too good, so I stopped going. I was a lot older than them, and there was a lot of kids there that were really good and really confident, and it made me think, "I don't know if this is for me", because I wasn't really that confident at that time.

Adge: It's hard to think of you lacking confidence.

Maxine: Yeah, well, it's a bit over facing when you first go into these place and everyone there is very sparky and they knew what they were doing.

Adge: I think I would have been terrified!

Maxine: Well I didn't know how to act, and what we had been doing at school was really lots of improvisation. I'd never done stuff with a script or anything, so I found that a bit hard at first.

Adge: What did you do between then and when you were 21, because you went to RADA when you were 21, didn't you?

Maxine: I worked as a life guard. After leaving school I got a job as a life guard, and then I did a little bit of acting. I joined a theatre and an education company and did a bit with them, and then I did little bits on telly. Then I decided at 21 that if I wanted to be this serious then I should go to drama school, so I applied and got in at RADA, and then it all took off from there.

Adge: Was that where you met Thelma Holt?

Maxine: Yeah. She came to give to give us a chat. Well… she wanted a few students who had had trouble with funding, 'cos she was on the Arts Council, to put people's cases forward, and that was how I met her. Then, a couple of years later I got a call saying she was doing Miss Julie in the West End and would I audition for the part of Kristin.

Adge: You went on to do a fair bit of live acting didn't you?

Maxine: Yeah I've done quite a bit of theatre. I did "Dinner Ladies" first, and then I did a play at the Octagon, and then I went in the West End. Then I was at The National for about eighteen months, and then I worked at the Royal Court Theatre, so yeah, I've done quite a bit of theatre.

Adge: Did you enjoy working with Victoria Wood?

Maxine: Yeah, she was lovely.

Adge: She comes across as a typical northerner…

Maxine: Yeah, she's a very clever woman and was lovely to work with.

Adge: Do you prefer acting live to the TV stuff?

Maxine: Erm… it depends… a bit. I must admit that, although I've now got a lot more confident, that at first I found telly very, very, nerve wracking, more than theatre; because at least with theatre you could rehearse for four weeks or whatever. You did it, and then you did it again, so obviously you had plenty of time to make sure you'd got it right. With telly you have say a week, and do take after take. But you're up against it, time wise. So, unless the director's really unhappy, or you're sort of a really big star, you have to go with what you've done. So that's why I found telly a bit nerve wracking at first. But, the more I've done… I feel easier now in front of the camera.

Adge: You always appear to be really relaxed and confident in front of the camera, I mean in stuff like "Early Doors"

Maxine: You know that's funny, 'cos I was watching Early Doors… A friend of mine hadn't seen it, and when I watched it I thought, "Oh God, I look nervous in that". You know, when you see yourself… I thought I didn't look natural in that. I hadn't done any telly for about two years, when I did that, so I was a bit nervous. I'd done plenty of theatre, but I found it difficult getting back into telly again. So, I thought it showed.

Adge: Do you find it difficult to watch yourself?

Maxine: Yeah, I do, yeah. I mean... when I first did "Shameless" I watched myself, because I thought I need to see that I'm doing it all right. I think you learn when you watch yourself do things, and you think, "No, that doesn't look right when I do that", or, "I've got to stop doing that because it doesn't look truthful". But I must admit that with "Shameless", that I can't watch it now. I don't really watch it as much as I used to. I watch it because I enjoy the series, but I get bored watching myself. (Laughs). Sometimes I watch it though.

Adge: Shameless was written by Paul Abbot and you did a part in "Clocking Off", which was also his didn't you?

Maxine: Yeah, I did the very first episode of Clocking Off. It was only a tiny part, but that was one of my first serious roles, so I was over the moon about doing that.

Adge: Shameless is more popular, wouldn't you say?

Maxine: Hmm, I don't think… I don't know. I suppose it's got more of a cult following, but Clocking Off had higher viewing figures, 'cos it was BBC prime time telly, but I think Shameless has got more of a "family. It's a little more quirky. Do you know what I mean? So it got more of a cult following than I suppose Clocking Off did.

Adge: I have to admit that when I first saw Shameless I thought it was really rude and crude, but when you get into it and get to know the characters it's really amazing.

Maxine: Yeah, I thought it would upset a lot of people. So, I was worried. I thought that we're going to get a lot of complaints, but, it didn't seem to... I think people have grown up with telly, you know, haven't they. They're used to seeing telly which has, to put it bluntly, got a bit cruder, in a way. But I suppose it's just "real". My argument with Shameless is that it goes on, you know, it does go on.

Adge: Yeah it does.

Maxine: And it is on Channel Four, and it is on after nine o'clock, so it is giving you the adult choice if you want to watch it.

Adge: I think the thing about Shameless is that everybody knows somebody like that…

Maxine: Yeah, well that's it. That's something people say, like, "I've got a neighbour like you", or, "My uncle's like Frank", or ….

Adge: God, Frank, yeah…
(Whenever I think of Frank, I get a mental image of a yellow pee stain appearing in a pile of snow and I find it very difficult to talk without laughing, so at this point the taped interview is a bit garbled!)

Maxine: Yeah, everybody seems to know somebody like Frank (Laughs)

Adge: Just after you were here to make "Faith", you appeared on TV to make "Christmas Lights", with Mark Benton.

Maxine: Yeah, I did that, yeah.

Adge: He was in "Early Doors" as well wasn't he, and he always comes across as a nice bloke.

Maxine: Yeah, he's a lovely fellah actually, he really is. They're doing a series of Christmas Lights now, but it's going to be called "Northern Lights", but I couldn't do it, because it clashed with Shameless...

Adge: That's a pity…

Maxine: So it's gone as a series now. Sian Reeves is playing Pauline, which was my character, you know, the part I played, so I'm sure she'll be very good.

Adge: When you did "Faith", I thought that was more serious than most of the TV stuff you'd done before… you know… a more serious subject.

Maxine: Yeah… I think that was really my first serious part since I did the little bit in Clocking Off. So that was a big deal. It was a big deal because it was about the miners, and I did have to sort of fight for that part, because when I first heard about it, my agent said that the casting director had said that there's nothing in it for you, really, that you would be right for. So, luckily, it was George Faber who was the executive producer; he produced Shameless. So I emailed him and I said, "Look, I don't care what type of part, but there must be something", and he said, "I'll forward your email to Alison Jackson, the producer and see what she thinks."
So in the end they said, yes, come in, but they wanted me for "Bev", which was Kelly Hollis's part. When I read "Bev" they said, "You're not really right for this." And then they said, "Would like to read anything else?"
So I said, "Well, I'd like to read for "Michelle", which was Christine's part, and they said, "Well, we've already got somebody for that, but you can do if you want"
Then they said, "What about Linda?" and I said, "On no, I don't really like her, she's horrible!" (Laughs) I mean, she's really mean, and I don't get it; why has she done that to her sister? But then when I read it, it sort of became clear, you know, the dilemma everybody was in, and the climate and everything that was going on around them. Then I felt sympathetic towards Linda, which I always think you have to if you want to play a part. I don't mean you have to like them, but you have to understand why they do something. Even though sometimes it's hard to see a reason, there usually is some deep seated reason why people behave in a certain way. So I read Linda, and then I got a call saying, "You've got it, would you like to do it?" So I was over the moon.

Adge: Did you think it was different to the other roles you've played?

Maxine: Yeah, it was different sort of part. I suppose I do more of the comedy, the daft sort of comedy part, so it was really nice to do that. And of course, she was a lot more gentle the characters I normally play. Even though I know what she did… wasn't… you know… very nice... to cheat on your sister, but I think that as person, Linda wasn't brassy and Michelle was the stronger personality of the two. Normally I'm the one with the big mouth, so it was nice being the quieter one.

Adge: Did you have any political views about the strike and events around it?

Maxine: Yes, I grew up with my grandfather who had a role in the Communist Party. He worked for Lale & Morters (the name is indistinct due to the poor quality of the recording at this point. AC) When the strike was on he was always out and about and collecting…
And he also sold the Morning Star. I was only ten years old, but I can remember it, because it was always the main discussion in our house. And then I was in The Young Communists League, when I was eighteen to about twenty three, so it had a big influence on me. It was just one of those things that I thought needed the story telling about it. I remember watching Billy Elliot and being furious, because I didn't quite like the way they used it as a backdrop, when it was too important to be just a back drop to a story. I remember thinking that if I could write… I would love to be able to do… something about it… you know. I mean, it was nearly a civil war, and I don't think people realised that. A friend of mine spoke to me after Faith and said, "That was brilliant, we never realised that things like that went on." I think it just got swept under the carpet here.

Adge: I know what you mean. After Faith I received a lot of emails through the MinersAdvice web site from people who had previously been Thatcher supporters, but who had no idea about the way we were betrayed, or that she had done such things to our own people.

Maxine: Yeah, and I think that, although Faith was a great drama, it only touched really, on the real hardship that went on, and I'd love there to be a drama that is based on what people really went through. I mean, the emotional turmoil that the characters experienced was interesting, but the real hardship that people went through… taking doors off and having to burn your doors… you know, for the wood, and I think that side of it should be told, because she got away with it, and I think it was disgusting… despicable. And then, for the Tories to complain the next day in the papers, saying that the BBC had put it on because it was coming up to the election. I thought you should keep your mouths shut because I think you got off lightly. I think that it wasn't really a political piece, I don't think he ever wrote it as… and he said that himself. It was a human drama.

Adge: To the people who took part in the strike, Faith was obviously just a drama…

Maxine: I wish it had been more political, but I just wanted to be a part of something that was at least having a go at telling something of the injustice that went on in the strike.

Adge: You said you were influenced through your grandfather's politics, but did your family have any mining connections?

Maxine: No, not really. I mean, we knew miners. Our nearest pit was Parkside, which is quite a bit away, but where I grew up there was the Pretoria Pit disaster, which was a massive pit that was here at the turn of the century.* My school was on the ground of Pretoria Pit, so it's just one of those things… we were always conscious of the miners. So, although we had no close family who were miners, the strike was just something that I always felt strongly about. I just thought the way she treated the miners was disgusting.
*(Maxine is referring to an explosion that occurred at Hulton Colliery, known locally as Pretoria Pit, just four days before Christmas in 1910. 344 men and boys died when a roof fall released a large amount of gas and an explosion ripped through the mine. AC)

Adge: I think most of us who were miners felt a sense of betrayal. We were part of an industry that only ten years earlier had promised us good wages and a job for life…

Maxine: I think that the end of the miners' strike was such an end of an era. There's no 'kick' in the British workers no more, is there?

Adge: No

Maxine: She ended that. She crushed the unions. She knew when she'd done the miners' that was it. You know, she'd extinguished any flame then. I suppose it's a romantic notion that I've got… but people don't fight… there's no solidarity any more. I still believe that the miners would have won the fight if the rest of the working class had got behind them. In truth, they were betrayed by the Labour Party from the kick-off, but if the rest of the British public had got behind them…

Adge: People don't realise just how close we were to actually winning the strike. We stumbled over just one word on a document… and of course, Thatcher can be credited for creating the "I'm all right Jack" society…

Maxine: Well that's her legacy. I mean, look at society now; it's an absolute mess, and that is her legacy. I'm not saying she did it all on her own, because she did have help from other people and future leaders. For me, the end of the miners' strike signalled the end of socialism. My granddad, who is now 77, and who fought all his life for socialism, says it's worse now than it was when he was a kid. That must be just heartbreaking, to realise that what you'd spent your life doing… from his late teens, to living in this society as it is now…

Adge: If we can go back to the subject of the making of Faith… I believe this was the first time you had worked with Christine Tremarco and Jamie Draven. What was that like?

Maxine: Ohh lovely. Me and Christine are still really good pals, in fact I spoke to her only just the other day. You know, we speak to each other probably once or twice a week, but, to be honest, I haven't heard from Ady or Jamie for a while, but it was fab. I know everybody always says that it was a lovely job, but it was. But with those… and Neil and Kelli… and Danny... they were just a lovely gang of people. It was one of those jobs where everybody was pleased just to be a part of it. I'd never worked on one of those jobs where everybody just wanted to be there. I mean, sometimes you do jobs just for the cash. It's a job. Do you know what I mean… But this was one of those jobs where if they'd said to everybody, "You're not getting paid", everybody would have still been there doing it… Everyone just felt so strongly about what they were doing. And I made such a lot of friends there who I'm still in touch with, and we were all crying when it was over. It really was the best job I've ever done. It made you feel like, 'this is what it's all about', and every job after that was a bit of anti climax.

Adge: Shortly after making Faith, Christine appeared on TV in a drama about Hitler, where she played Eve Braun…

Maxine: Uncle Adolph

Adge: Yes that's right…

Maxine: She's brilliant, Christine. I met her a couple of years ago, when I was in a bar. She was one of my favourite actors, so I went up and I told her. I think she was a bit embarrassed, but she said, "Give us your phone number", and we sort of kept in touch a bit, but I got a call from her when I got the job, saying, "Hiya sister, it's me!"

Adge: I thought that the role of Eva Braun would be difficult for anyone to want to play, but I've heard that you want to play a role that must be equally as difficult, and that's Myra Hindley?

Maxine: Yeah... well… I've sort of been offered it, but it clashes with the last two weeks of Shameless, so we're frantically trying to make the dates work, but it might not happen if we can't sort the filming schedule out. I nearly lost Faith because of the same thing, because that was at the tail end of the last series of Shameless. So, were just waiting, and I should know by the end of next week, whether they are going to be able to schedule it around… so, I don't know at the moment. At the moment I'm half and half. I don't want to get too excited about it, because I think that I might get a call saying, "It's not going to work, and we may have to speak to somebody else".

Adge: I know you have to sympathise with the character you're playing, but how on earth would you manage to get into that sort of role?

Maxine: Well, I wouldn't necessarily say 'sympathise', but you have to try and understand somebody's mindset… try and understand somebody's thought process and what makes them do what they do. I suppose what I've got to do now, if it happens I mean, is, I've got to do lots of research, on her and her background. And that's going to be difficult, because she's a real person. Everybody has an opinion about Myra Hindley; whether you think she's an out and out monster, or whether people think she was manipulated by Brady.

Adge: I would be one of the latter.

Maxine: You think she was manipulated?

Adge: Yeah.

Maxine: Well, from what I've read… but it's a difficult one to pass any judgement until I've sat down and talked about it with the directors, but I think I'm erring towards believing that she was quite an impressionable woman. I think he was extremely powerful, and quite charismatic. I think that before you can pass judgement though, on this or anybody, you have to really get to grips and get to know exactly what happened.

Adge: Apart from that project, do you have any other plans for the future?

Maxine: No, no. Nothing at all… To be honest, if that works out, I might like to go away next year and have a bit of a break. Just have to see what happens. It just depends on the roles that come along. It's just happened that lots of good stuff that I wanted to do has been there and I've been able to get it, so…

Adge: Well, thank you Maxine for giving me so much of your time and I hope your next project is very successful.