Maxine Cunliffe

Maxine Cunliffe, originally from London, moved to New Zealand over 15 years ago. Her education includes Trinity College of Music in London, where she studied Solo and Ensemble Music Performance, with the cello as her instrument of choice. Cunliffe then went on to study at the University of Brighton and received an MA in French, Language and Media. With her impressive background, she has forged a significant career as both actor and musician, with the two disciplines often complementing each other.

Maxine Cunliffe

She was featured playing cello in the TV series The Wilds, and again on stage as the Chorus in an all female performance of Shakespeare’s Henry V – a show we all wish we could have seen! (For context, in Kenneth Branagh’s production of Henry V, Derek Jacobi performed the Chorus.) She has also been Hippolyta in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Michael Hurst, known for his work on the TV Show Hercules.

Maxine and her daughter Alice

One of Cunliffe’s proudest moments was when she was able to perform with her daughter, Alice, in a Summer Shakespeare production of As You Like It

Cunliffe is perhaps best known for a guest appearance on Power Rangers Megaforce, where she played the Librarian in the episode “The Human Condition”.

Her resume includes short films such as Divinity (2015), Fract (2016) and the fascinating Reset (2016), where she was the Earth Goddess. Might this be a clue to who or what she might be asked to perform in the new LOTR on Prime? 

Editor Note: Join TheOneRing.net as we focus on the recent cast member announcements for Amazon TV’s The Lord of the Rings inspired TV series. Throughout the month, and as part of our Tolkien Advent Calendar celebration, we will be taking a deep-dive into their previous work, relating that to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien. Today’s calendar is below!

Day 9 of TheOneRing.net's Tolkien Holiday Advent Calendar
Day 9 of TheOneRing.net’s Tolkien Holiday Advent Calendar