Peter Dinklage Talks Leading Roles and Game of Thrones
In a recent interview with online magazine The Talks, actor Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister on HBO’s Game of Thrones) had a chance to discuss how the role of leading characters on television is beginning to evolve. In Dinklage’s case, that evolution opened the door to a successful career, although as a young actor he spent time refusing to play leprechauns and the like before people started hiring him for reasons other than his size.
"It’s tricky, but it’s important to say no – especially earlier in your career – because life is short and you want to be proud of things that you have done, not ashamed of them. I thought I was going to be eating canned soup for the rest of my life and I worked a variety of other jobs to supplement my income, but I’d rather be doing that than working on certain acting jobs. I loved acting, so I didn’t want to tarnish it with bad experiences."
The Talks doesn’t spend a lot of time discussing Game of Thrones (in one non-Thrones related question, Dinklage identifies confidence as the key to being “a real man” and opines that “9 times out of 10 women run much deeper than we do and they respond to things that aren’t just on the surface,” which is an interesting way of looking at things), but it does circle back around to the show by asking about a topic that seems to be gaining a fair amount of steam lately, which is the sex and violence portrayed on Thrones.
"If people concentrated their disapproval on the world we live in and not on a fantasy TV show that has dragons, then I would understand. But people are having issues with a show that is fantasy. There are dragons in it. There are White Walkers. In life there is much more violence, there is much more sex. These puritanical views on the arts, that it contributes harmful things to society… It really doesn’t."
Well said, and it’s nice to hear one of the show’s most prominent members discuss this topic. With the show coming under fire for what many considered a year full of shocking twists that existed purely to be shocking twists, having such a beloved member of the cast draw a clear line in the sand and make his stance known is a good thing for Game of Thrones and its fans.
Next: Game of Thrones’ Wolf Unit Arrives In Peñíscola to Begin Filming