Peter Dinklage “misses” playing Tyrion Lannister on ‘Game of Thrones.’
Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones
The 52-year-old actor found it "such a joy" to work on the HBO fantasy drama series and praised the show's writers for making his popular alter ego have more depth than simply being the joke in a “prejudiced” world.
He said: “I do miss Tyrion. He was just lovely, funny and the writers were smart to not only give him the joke that ends up on a T-shirt, but also have him be more than that — in a world prejudiced against him. Every season we’d get all ten scripts at the start, like a novel. I’d go through them ravenously. Not to find out if my character died, but just to enjoy it. It was really such a joy.”
When asked about the mass scrutiny which came with starring in the series – which was based on the best-selling book series by George R.R. Martin – Peter admitted it was "impossible" to avoid criticism from fans, but insisted it didn't matter if the show left people "offended" because it meant they were doing things right.
Speaking to The Sunday Times Culture magazine, he said: “You try [to avoid the scrutiny] but it was impossible. You’re reminded of it on a daily basis by the fans. They had deep knowledge, but if somebody loves something they have their version of it in their head, so we got criticism early. Then, when we were leaving, they criticised again because they didn’t want us to go. Some got angry. But if you appeal to everyone, you’re doing something wrong. And we offended a lot of people.”
Peter – who was born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism and stands at 4ft 5in - can currently be seen in the title role in musical drama ‘Cyrano’ and thinks it is “about time” the stereotype of a romantic lead in Hollywood started to change.
He said: “The idea of a leading actor is changing now. Whether racially or whatever. It’s about time. We’ve been stuck with this stereotype of a leading man and it’s healthy to open that up. Love life is not the domain of pretty people — everybody has a love life.”
Tagged in Peter Dinklage