The Shameless star will play the Dane as part of a new position as an artistic associate of the Manchester venue

Directed by the venue's artistic director Sarah Frankcom, the production will be the first of "a number of exciting creative collaborations" between Peake and the Royal Exchange, where she will become an artistic associate in autumn 2014.
"Sarah and I have looked for a project that would stretch and excite us and Hamlet just seemed the the next natural step to challenge us both in so many ways," Peake said.
She is not the first woman to play Shakespeare's biggest role. Among the most well known to have tackled the Dane include French star Sarah Bernhardt, who was the first to play the role on screen, and German actress Angela Winkler.
Peake added: "I am so excited how gender swapping can affect and throw up new ways of looking at this theatrical masterpiece; then to be asked to join the Exchange as an artistic associate was just the cherry on the cake."