MAXINE Peake poses on a scooter outside the Peveril Of The Peak pub in Manchester city centre for her latest role.

The Bolton-born former Shameless star's list of headline-grabbing acting parts includes See No Evil: The Moors Murders, Confessions of a Diary Secretary, and Dinnerladies, to name but a few.

But her latest acting endeavour is something a little more "niche" as it will be seen mainly by London media types and art-house cinemagoers in the capital and the south east, rather than by millions watching prime-time TV.

But Maxine was only too happy to accept a cameo in a two-and-a-half minute film commissioned by the North West Regional Development Agency to highlight the region's hotbed of creative and cultural talent.

She joins music mogul Anthony Wilson in the film, to coincide with summer's Manchester International Festival, the world's first international festival of original, new work.

No place like home

Although now London-based, Maxine, 32, says there's no place like home and she remains inspired by the places that drew her to acting, like the Royal Exchange where she attended youth theatre before going to Rada.

"For me, London is where I work but this is home. Manchester is really making its mark as the place to be for great writing and theatre. Often in London they forget or don't realise what a rich history the city and the north west has for ground-breaking quality drama."

Her cultural markers include the Bolton Octagon theatre where she saw her first play, A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Susannah York.

She says: "Although I am known by the majority of people for my TV work I am most comfortable in theatre - I get nervous in front of a camera!"

Click on the link to the right to see a list of winners from the Manchester Tourism Awards.