Peter Dinklage, born on June 11, 1969, has become a household name thanks to his iconic act as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones.
Peter is truly one of a kind. A leading man with strength, vulnerability, and a cartoonishly thick head of hair, he has delivered a slew of memorable roles marked by a sardonic sense of humor.
On the 52nd birthday of this inspirational actor, we bring you some interesting facts about him that you may not know.
1. PETER DINKLAGE’S FIRST TASTE OF ACTING CAME IN FIFTH GRADE.
Like more than a few of his colleagues, Peter Dinklage—who was born in Morristown, New Jersey, on June 11, 1969—caught the acting bug as an adolescent, appearing in a lead role in a performance of The Velveteen Rabbit in fifth grade. “When you get your first solo bow, that feels pretty good” said Dinklage. Despite its lack of rabbits, he also credited watching Sam Shepard’s True West in 1984 as a major inspiration to pursue acting as a profession.
2. PETER DINKLAGE REFUSED TO PLAY STEREOTYPICAL ROLES—EVEN WHEN MONEY WAS TIGHT.
When Dinklage was surviving the salad days in a New York City apartment filled with rats, he had offers to play elves and leprechauns, but he turned down those paychecks out of principle. It created a short-term setback (at least when it came to paying rent), but his tenacity eventually paid off with roles like the one in Elf that challenged clichés. He was even careful when Game of Thrones came calling, recognizing the way dwarves normally look in fantasy projects. “[Tyrion Lannister’s] somebody who turned that on its head. No beard, no pointy shoes, a romantic, real human being.”
3. PETER DINKLAGE WAS IN A PUNK-FUNK-RAP BAND.
What does that genre blend sound like? Hard to say, but the band was called Whizzy, and they played CBGB, where Dinklage got the notable scar along the side of his face. He said, “I was jumping around onstage and got accidentally kneed in the temple. I was like Sid Vicious, just bleeding all over the stage. Blood was going everywhere. I just grabbed a dirty bar napkin and dabbed my head and went on with the show. We didn’t care much about personal safety.”
4. PETER DINKLAGE’S MOM TOLD HIM HE WAS GOING TO LOSE THE GOLDEN GLOBE TO GUY PEARCE.
Before Dinklage won the Golden Globe for Game of Thrones in 2012, he spoke with his mom back in New Jersey, who told him, “Have fun, but have you seen Mildred Pierce? Guy Pearce is so good. He’s gonna win.” He wryly noted how moms keep us all humble.
5. PETER DINKLAGE IS AN OUTSPOKEN VEGETARIAN.
Dinklage has been a vegetarian since childhood, and he has used his fame as a platform to speak out on animal rights issues. That includes telling Game of Thrones fans to stop adopting Huskies after the breed’s popularity (and abandonment rate) shot through the roof thanks to the show’s dire wolves.
6. PETER DINKLAGE STARRED IN THE SAME MOVIE TWICE.
In Death at a Funeral, Dinklage played Peter, the American man who surprises a family by showing up at the patriarch’s funeral claiming to be the old man’s lover. Directed by Frank Oz with a stellar British ensemble, the movie was popular enough to warrant an American remake, and Dinklage returned to play the same role with a completely different cast and Neil LaBute as director.
7. PETER DINKLAGE SAW A STRANGER DIE.
One morning in Los Angeles, Dinklage was walking down Melrose Avenue when he met eyes with a man on a motorcycle who pulled out into traffic, got hit by a car, and died. “It was in the morning, so there was no one around, you know? It was empty, so there was this quiet moment where it was like I was the only person in the world who knew this guy was dead.”
8. THE SWORD FIGHTS ON GAME OF THRONES DON’T MAKE PETER DINKLAGE FEEL COOL.
Smiting foes on the field of battle would be enough to make a lot of actors feel powerful, but not Dinklage. “The fight scenes are all a big lie. The whole time you’re trying not to get hit in the eye with a sword, and you wish you had on a welding helmet,” said Peter. To drive the point home, he explained one shot where he cuts a knight’s leg off involved him swinging a blunt sword at a 70-year-old amputee.
9. PETER DINKLAGE GREW UP NEXT TO BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’S MANAGER.
Dinklage’s family’s next-door neighbor in Brookside, New Jersey, was The Boss’s manager, which meant Springsteen regularly played guitar just one house down. Dinklage’s parents also heard Springsteen play at a wedding in a surfboard factory but complained that he was “too loud.”
10. PETER DINKLAGE READ HIS GAME OF THRONES SCRIPTS IN A SPECIAL WAY.
Specifically, he read them backwards. “The first thing I really do when I get the scripts is I go to the last page of the last episode and then look backward until I find my name to see if I survive.”
