Peter Dinklage

Peter Dinklage

Actor
|

Life Story

Peter Dinklage is an American actor. Since his breakout role in The Station Agent (2003), he has appeared in numerous films and theatre plays. Since 2011, Dinklage has portrayed Tyrion Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones. For this he won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2011.

Peter Hayden Dinklage was born in Morristown, New Jersey, to Diane (Hayden), an elementary school teacher, and John Carl Dinklage, an insurance salesman. He is of German, Irish, and English descent. In 1991, he received a degree in drama from Bennington College and began his career. His exquisite theatre work that expresses brilliantly the unique range of his acting qualities, includes remarkable performances full of profoundness, charisma, intelligence, sensation and insights in plays such as "The Killing Act", "Imperfect Love", Ivan Turgenev's "A Month in the Country" as well as the title roles in William Shakespeare's "Richard III" and in Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya".

Peter Dinklage received acclaim for his first film, Living in Oblivion (1995), where he played an actor frustrated with the limited and caricatured roles offered to actors who have dwarfism. In 2003, he starred in The Station Agent (2003), written and directed by Tom McCarthy. The movie received critical praise as well as Peter Dinklage's work including nominations such as for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the "Screen Actors Guild" and Best Male Lead at the "Film Independent Spirit Awards". One of his next roles has been the one of Miles Finch, an acclaimed children's book author, in Elf (2003). Find Me Guilty (2006), the original English Death at a Funeral (2007), its American remake Death at a Funeral (2010), Penelope (2006), The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) are also included in his brilliant work concerning feature films.

 
 
Family

Erica Schmidt (16 April 2005 - present) ( 1 child)

Trivia

November 2004 - engaged to theater director Erica Schmidt.
Has achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism in which the body is perfectly formed but the bones initially modelled in cartilage, the long bones of the arms and legs, do not grow long enough. Velázquez painted a fine portrait of a man with this condition which hangs in the Prado in Madrid.
Is a vegetarian. Anytime you see him eating a meat product on screen, it is a tofu product (such as the tofu "beef" jerky, in The Station Agent (2003)).
Son of an elementary school music teacher and retired insurance salesman. Both parents are of average height, as is older brother, John, a violinist.
He was George R.R. Martin's first choice to play "Tyrion Lannister" in Game of Thrones (2011).
For his role on Game of Thrones (2011), named one of the "Eight Actors Who Turn Television into Art," in cover story of The New York Times Magazine (9/11/11).
In his acceptance speech for the Golden Globe, Dinklage called attention to the plight of Martin Henderson, a dwarf who was crippled after being attacked by a rugby player outside a bar.
He and his wife have one child at present, a daughter.
Owns a dog named Kevin.
Studies theology.
Delivered the 2012 Commencement Address at his alma mater, Bennington College (Vermont). He is a 1991 graduate of Bennington College with a degree in drama.
He has German, Irish, and English ancestry. His surname is German.
Dinklage is considered such a genuinely pleasant and amiable person by his costars on "Game of Thrones", that many of them find it quite difficult to act out scenes with him in which they're mistreating his character Tyrion. He and Lena Headey are such good friends, in fact, they share an apartment whenever they're filming scenes and drive together to the set each day, even though their characters have a mutual hatred of each other. Charles Dance has also expressed disdain for how his character treats Tyrion, stating that he finds it hard to be so mean to a nice man like Dinklage.

 

Personal Quotes 

[on short stature] When I was younger, definitely, I let it get to me. As an adolescent, I was bitter and angry and I definitely put up these walls. But the older you get, you realize you just have to have a sense of humor. You just know that it's not your problem. It's theirs.
I like animals, all animals. I wouldn't hurt a cat or a dog - or a chicken or a cow. And I wouldn't ask someone else to hurt them for me. That's why I'm a vegetarian.
[after winning a Golden Globe for his performance in Game of Thrones (2011)] I was talking to my mother in Jersey before I came out and she said, "Have fun but have you seen Mildred Pierce (2011)? Guy Pearce is so good. He's gonna win." So . . . I haven't seen "Mildred Pierce" but I'm sure he's really good and I just love our moms because they keep us humble.
I think a lot of great male comic actors are introspective, quiet personalities, which I really admire. But they are really able to turn it up when the camera's on.
I was a sullen kid who smoked cigarettes and wore black every day, and I went to a school that was lacrosse players and Izods.
I should call people back more readily. I'm not the best friend sometimes in terms of that. I do follow that white balloon and get distracted a lot.
Game of Thrones (2011) is an amazing show, and I have no problem speaking of the virtues of HBO.
I'm a private person in many ways.
I'm on Game of Thrones (2011), and every time we have someone new coming on our show, we welcome them with open arms and get revitalized by this new presence. Then we kill them off very quickly.
I spend my nights just sitting and reading a book and drinking my tea and walking my dog. That's about as exciting as my life gets.
What I really want is to play the romantic lead and get the girl.
I think actors get too comfortable. I like being uncomfortable as an actor because it keeps you alive. I don't know, I think it's important.
I never lived in an abandoned railroad station.
Writing is getting killed by too many chefs. Back in the [Humphrey Bogart] days, it started with great scripts. You had a writer, and he wrote a script, and that was your movie. I think that's been watered down a bit lately.

 
 
Filmography

Signup for Newsletter

Signup for the latest news about Movies & Events and exclusive offers.

Don't worry, we won't spam you. You will be able to unsubscribe with a single mouse click.
Subscribe for Our Whatsapp Updates

Which update you want to receive?