Interview

Peter Dinklage takes center stage in the New York Times

Posted on by Sue the Fury
Tyrion
Tyrion Lannister in season 6 of Game of Thrones. Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO

Peter Dinklage takes center stage this weekend in a new profile in the New York Times. The actor met up with the NYT‘s Maureen Dowd to talk dragons, the Iron Throne, selfies and a whole lot more.

Describing what it’s like to work with dragons, Dinklage says, “Ah, working with something that is not there. Sometimes I work with some actors who aren’t fully there. The guys in the visual effects department show you pre-visualizations, pre-vis. It used to be just storyboards, but now they’re really well done on computers, and you see the whole scene with you and the animated dragons before you do it, so you get that in your head. It’s neat. It’s cool. I like it.”

His humor is on display throughout the interview, his answers often laden with a touch of lighthearted snark.

“I think they should dismantle the Iron Throne,” he tells Dowd. “Smelt it down and give it to the poor. It’s very uncomfortable. They would have let the queen of England sit down on it, but she didn’t. But, you know, she’s an elderly lady, and having sat on it myself, I could understand why. It’s made of swords. Sometimes your bum gets stuck for a second.”

The cast and showrunners of Game of Thrones weigh in on Dinklage in the profile, singing his praises in a way we’ve come to expect from virtually everyone who works with him.

Executive producer David Benioff says, “We all love Jon Snow, but most of us aren’t heroes.” He says, “Tyrion is a bit cynical and capable of breaking out of that cynicism.”
Benioff further tells the Times that there’s now “a lot of Peter in Tyrion,” and that in writing GoT, the show has “drawn on his teasing friendships with [Lena] Headey and Conleth Hill.”

Given the onscreen chemistry in Cersei-Tyrion and Tyrion-Varys scenes, that’s no surprise. Their moments together are often my favorite part of an episode.

The actor’s interactions with fans have been a little odd on occasion. He shares one story with the New York Times:

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“The other day this teenage girl walked right up to me and put her arm around me and took a selfie and said ‘Thanks’ and just kept walking,” Dinklage explains. “It was almost forgivable because she saw nothing wrong with it. But if you’re sneaking pictures, you know you’re not doing something great. Oftentimes, they don’t want to meet you; they just want proof that they met you. I was watching that Steve Jobs movie on a plane the other day and I was like, ‘You started a monster, man.’”

The profile covers a lot of ground, going in-depth with a very private actor who doesn’t do a lot of interviews. He discusses everything from his wedding (Las Vegas), reports of his daugher’s name (false)  to Project Runway (“Well, who doesn’t love Tim Gunn?” ), so reading the complete profile at the New York Times is a must.

 

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Sue the Fury
Susan Miller, Editor in Chief of WatchersOnTheWall.com

64 Comments

  3. Tyrion’s clothes look so awesome this season. It’s the perfect blend of his King’s Landing style and a Meereenese touch —the greens, the geometric patterns.

  4. Always think of Key and Peele now when I hear his last name…

    The Dinkles, don’t mess with the Dinkles. Dinkles is my jam, my jelly, my peanut butter and my peanuts.

  5. Can’t wait to see what happens to Tyrone this season! Hopefully he can bring order back to the chaos that he has been thrust into!

    Survive to the end Tyrion!

  7. thats a new shot of him from Season 6 isnt it? i can totally hear “your in the great game now” being said right there

  13. That’s pretty much confirmation that Tyrion has interactions with the Dragons, most likely Vision and Rhaegal. This could suggest possibly he is after all taking aspects of Quentyn Martell’s story from Dance. I just hope he doesn’t finish in the same place as he did. There was a bit of speculation on Tyrion and the Dragons but there you go. No, it’s not proof of Tyrion Targaryen, you lot keep ya nickers on.

  14. I have crushed on Peter D since his Station Agent days but this interview could have been a lot better – thanks to the pompous Maureen Dowd. She is so full of herself.

  15. Wow, an interview with Maureen Dowd? Not sure how many of you are news hounds, but she’s really big, been a journalist for decades; won the Pulitzer Prize, has written several books on politics and culture. Very cool. Wonder if we can get her to review GOT instead of Linda?

  16. Cersei's Brain,

    I kind of agree w u on this. I guess she is a big deal. But I don’t like the way she writes. It is choppy, ultra descriptive, and egotistical. I dunno. Don’t want to judge too harshly.

    I’m pretty psyched for Tyrion interacting w the dragons. I’m assuming he survives, which would be amazing. There must be a bit of explanation on how he approaches freeing them w out getting fried. like maybe how he has read a lot about dragons or maybe Varys schools him a bit. Can’t wait!

    On the other hand, I would be devastated if he goes the way of Quentin.

    I’ve also been thinking about the Shae appearance. I’m wondering if it’s a dream or maybe it has something to do w the new red woman. Uuuuuuaaaarrrrggg! April 24 seems miles away.

  19. Executive producer David Benioff says, “We all love Jon Snow, but most of us aren’t heroes.” He says, “Tyrion is a bit cynical and capable of breaking out of that cynicism.”

    You mean We all LOVED Jon Snow right Mr. Benioff. “wink”

  20. Gravemaster,

    Yeah, I’m sure he’s fine, but simply because his contract is renewed doesn’t mean he’s alive. I would say he’s fine but for other reasons, one of which being he’s one of the most popular characters and was in GRRM’s original big-5 characters to make it to the last book.

  21. I never liked Dinklage, I don’t think he’s a very sympathetic man. Quotes like this illustrate that:

    “He’s a cool cat, Pete,” Headey told me. “He’s not immediately warm. I like those people. He has a wicked tongue and is clever and informed. He’s on the other end of the phone if you ever need him. If he doesn’t like you, he doesn’t pretend.”

    I wouldn’t be able work with him, that’s for sure. I do enjoy the character Tyrion, though.

    But yeah, that’s just my opinion. I can see that people admire the blunt honesty of Peter.

  22. His idols are the cool people who don’t strive to be cool — Smith, Lou Reed, Tobias Wolff and Sam Shepard.

    Smith? At first, I thought this meant “The Smiths,” but they don’t say that. Smith could be any one of five million people. Hell, it could almost be me.

  23. Wow! Tyrion looks great in his new clothes. That’s the second set of new clothes for Season 6, isn’t it? The Meereen seamstresses must adore him! And dragons! Yes, it’s pretty clear that Tyrion’s Season 6 story will have politics, intrigue, Varys and DRAGONS! Awesome! I have loved every morsel of Tyrion-Varys in the show!

  25. Kay:
    Wow! Tyrion looks great in his new clothes. That’s the second set of new clothes for Season 6, isn’t it?

    Third, actually.

  26. SnowStark:
    Executive producer David Benioff says, “We all love Jon Snow, but most of us aren’t heroes.” He says, “Tyrion is a bit cynical and capable of breaking out of that cynicism.”

    You mean We all LOVED Jon Snow right Mr. Benioff. “wink”

    Thank You SnowStark,as this made me laugh out loud.

  27. Mr. Benioff, Jon Is the hero,yes,but He is so a men,simple a men, No as Tyrion Lannister …we love Jon ,WE LOVE him.Tyrion can die,Jon NO,Is the heart of GoT…

  28. Didn’t Kit signed a contract for S7? Does this mean something for the big 6 even if they are finished earlier than the final seasons?

  30. Luka Nieto,

    Yes, you are right of course! 😀 Plus, he had new clothes made for him immediately after he was accepted by Daenerys in Season 5!

    Ginevra,

    To be honest, even without all the complex mathematics, just from watching the show from Season 1, I have always thought him to be the “most” primary of protagonists! 🙂

  31. Pigeon:
    “Sometimes I work with some actors who aren’t fully there.”

    Hehehehehhehe….

    Was that a jab saying some actors phone it in?

  32. I have crushed on Peter D since his Station Agent days but this interview could have been a lot better – thanks to the pompous Maureen Dowd. She is so full of herself.

    She may be – but I think she runs circles around many other columnists who write on similar subjects in terms of getting the the heart of the matter. And besides – she actually is a fan of GOT!

  34. Luka Nieto,
    And no Lannister red. Sweet.

    I hope Dany changes her House colours from red/black to something else as well. One sign George Martin is a writer: silver/purple has no chance of going well with red/black. And Aegon and his sisters would probably be aware of that.

    Plus, Dany would look like an offbrand Sith Lord in these colours.

  35. So much to be excited for!

    In these next few weeks we get a few things we have all been waiting for.

    1). Game of Thrones
    2). Captain America: Civil War
    3). NFL Draft

    And also the buds will start popping on the tree branches and the grass will turn beautiful green.

    Spring is here and there is so much to look forward to!

  36. (Dan Weiss, one of the “Game of Thrones” creators and writers, says Trump reminds him of Hodor, a gigantic dimwit who answers every question with one word: his name.)

    Hahahaha So true!

  37. His clothes are really pretty, but i didnt get your excitement for it. Haha. We already saw tyrion with clothes like this in episode 9 and 10 of season 5.

  39. Kay,

    I still see Jon as the prima donna, but that involves subtle and subjective evidence that couldn’t fit in a formula. Tyrion and Arya are my favorite characters, though, and I’m sure Tyrion will have a very prominent place.

    Who’d have thunk that Sansa was third in prominence, other than the Sansannites? Sixth, seventh, or eighth, yeah, but third?

  42. Arthur:
    So much to be excited for!

    In these next few weeks we get a few things we have all been waiting for.

    1). Game of Thrones
    2).Captain America: Civil War
    3).NFL Draft

    And also the buds will start popping on the tree branches and the grass will turn beautiful green.

    Spring is here and there is so much to look forward to!

    If you were a character on GoT, you would probably die directly after making this post.

  44. Reading him talking about the dragons reminds me one of my very, very favorite moments of any of the seasons…that first moment Tyrion sees Drogon, his reaction, the look on his face, the way the audience can see the series of thoughts racing through his mind… and the fact, of course, there was no dragon there. I found that moment so brilliant, and the brilliance of his reaction is just compounded by the reminder he wasn’t seeing a big ‘ol dragon flying overhead, but whatever they used to mark the spot where he needed to look. Even if he was able to see a preview of what it would look like, still, there was nothing really there for him to react to, and it just floors me.

  54. Gravemaster: So, he’s the only fan on the screening. Did I get it right? Aside from the actors, crew and journalists. No one else?

    He gets to bring 1 guest, so yeah just those 2 + the cast and whatever media is invited. IGN confirmed they will be there.

  55. Jack Bauer 24: He gets to bring 1 guest, so yeah just those 2 + the cast and whatever media is invited. IGN confirmed they will be there.

    So that means no way we will get any detailed recap of the episode on reddit. The ones who will claim to have been there, are just trolls. Good to know.

  56. Gravemaster: So that means no way we will get any detailed recap of the episode on reddit. The ones who will claim to have been there, are just trolls. Good to know.

    Yeah true. I asked IGN if they were allowed to do a non spoilery write up. Like an article on their impressions of the premiere, but they said they weren’t sure what HBO is allowing just yet. I’ll follow up with them tomorrow and see what they were told.

  59. So with this and the behind the scenes Spain thing we have seen 2 new Tyrion outfits. I guess after the women will be wearing less glamorous outfits in season it is Tyrion who will have to keep the clothing standards up.

  61. Arthur: In these next few weeks we get a few things we have all been waiting for.

    1). Game of Thrones
    2). Captain America: Civil War
    3). NFL Draft

    Speak for yourself. Not everyone likes football.

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