Peter Dinklage talks Game of Thrones season six, and how he let his hair down for new film Pixels

PETER Dinklage reveals the moment he knew Game of Thrones was a game-changer and what’s in store for him in season six, as his new film, Pixels, premieres.

On set ... Dinklage, who plays a Donkey Kong champ in Pixels, is wistful for the old, social days of gaming in an arcade. Picture: Sony

PETER Dinklage reveals the moment he knew Game of Thrones was a game-changer and what’s in store for him in season six, as his new film, Pixels, premieres.

What made you say yes to Pixels — was it the mullet?

It’s all about the hair. Samuel L. Jackson will tell you that — he has a different hairstyle every movie. If it helps him, maybe it can help me. And to work with Adam Sandler and (director) Chris Columbus, then I heard Josh Gad and Kevin James and Michelle Monaghan were going to be in it ... I don’t know, I’d never done anything like this before — comedy with the visual effects. You know, when you do Game of Thrones for many years, you don’t really want to jump into the same genre. Comedies are challenging and I want to challenge myself. I can’t play Tyrion Lannister all the time.

Do you get offered many comedies or do people think you’re a serious thespian?

I’ve done several now ... I did a movie (Michelle Darnell) with Melissa McCarthy this summer, that was a lot of fun. She’s just brilliant. I learnt a lot from her and Adam.

“It’s all about the hair” ... Dinklage fights off invading alien video games in Pixels. Picture: Sony

Your character in Pixels, Eddie Plant, is known as “the King of Donkey Kong”. He appears rather bloodthirsty ...

He’s full of himself. He thinks he’s a hero. He’s got a big ego. It says a lot about someone if they’ve given themselves a nickname — and it’s ‘The Fireblaster’, so that says everything. He was the childhood nemesis of Adam Sandler’s character, then he fell on hard times.

What’s your relationship with video games?

I was born in 1969 so in the ’80s I was a teenager. Before the home (machines) came out we had to go to the arcades and it was a really social atmosphere. You’d go with your friends, your pockets bulging with quarters and as soon as the quarters ran out, you had to go home. Now I feel bad for kids because they’re playing alone at home and there’s no community around. I feel like an old man talking this way, but I feel they’re missing out on the social aspect.

What were your fashion choices in the ’80s?

I went from parachute pants to a black velvet cape I wore for a while. That was a time where I didn’t talk to very many people ...

... and Michelle Darnell leading lady Melissa McCarthy. Picture: Twentieth Century Fox

Dinklage learnt a lot about comedy from Pixels’ Adam Sandler ... Picture: Sony

Presumably, you keep your daughter away from the bloody Game of Thrones set. Did she come visit you on Pixels?

Unfortunately she came when we were pretending to shoot laser guns in the air. She’s like, ‘Dad, why are you fighting? You’re always telling me fighting’s no good’. I’m like, ‘It’s pretend’. Then she was like, ‘So I can like pretend hit you?’ ‘No, oh God, how do I explain this?’ Now she’s three, she’s cynical about the whole thing. She’s more interested in playing with her friends.

When did you realise Game of Thrones was a game-changer for you?

Well, I was walking my dog the other day, he was sniffing another dog and as dog owners in New York City are wont to do, I went, ‘What’s your dog’s name?’ The woman looked down at the ground. Again I went, ‘What’s your dog’s name?’ She went, ‘Tyrion’. Yeah. Then I met another woman who named her children Sansa and Arya ... So you know when it’s reached some Zeitgeisty thing.

On set ... Dinklage, who plays a Donkey Kong champ in Pixels, is wistful for the old, social days of gaming in an arcade. Picture: Sony

Going back to shoot season six of GoT, does it feel like a day job now or is the excitement still there?

Well, I only work about three months a year on Thrones — other actors hate when I say that, they get very jealous when they work on TV shows for 10 months a year. And everybody lives over in England, I’m the only American on the show, so I don’t see them in off-season. So it’s so great to go back and see my friends again. We’ve all known each other for six years now and it’s just as inspiring as it was the very first day on set — truly.

Where to for Tyrion in the new season?

Don’t ask me. Honestly, this is the first time in six years of doing it I have no idea. I might die this year, I have no idea. When we go back to filming I’ll be getting those scripts in a pile this big. They don’t email it, they give you the actual scripts, all at the same time, all 10 of ’em. And it’s terrifying when you don’t know what’s going to happen.

It took a lot of make-up to get Dinklage looking like this in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Picture: Disney

In fantasy movies we used to see a lot of comical dwarf characters. GoT takes a totally different approach. Do you think it’s going to change perception and depiction going forward?

It’s funny, in Lord of the Rings — I loved those books and those movies — we have elves and all these other creatures and dwarfs are just another creature, they’re not really humans. (In real life) we don’t have elves or centaurs walking around, but we do have dwarfs, like myself ... We are real. So it’s nice to be humanised in fiction for once; George RR Martin was clever enough to make — thank you — a dwarf a fully-fleshed human being. That’s the only thing I’m ever drawn to.

Were you anti doing anything in the fantasy genre because of those old stereotypes?

I was knocking it for a while ... I did the Narnia movie (Prince Caspian) just because I was like, why would I knock something I’ve never actually been a part of? And that was a wonderful experience — a lot of make-up and a very long shoe, but I have no regrets about doing that. I’m not out to change people’s perceptions, I’m just out to flesh out fully-drawn characters.

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