Peter Dinklage is glad the dragon destroyed the throne.
While fans of “Game of Thrones” are still debating the May 2019 finale of the beloved HBO show, Dinklage – who starred as Tyrion Lannister on the popular fantasy series – has moved on.
His latest project is the new movie musical, “Cyrano,” an updated telling of the Cyrano de Bergerac tale, based on a 2019 off-Broadway play which Dinklage starred in.
But of course, given the massive popularity of his former show, Dinklage says in a new interview with the New York Times that he still gets dinked with questions about that "GOT" ending, even though he found it perfect.
“They wanted the pretty white people to ride off into the sunset together,” he stated. “By the way, it’s fiction. There’s dragons in it. Move on. [Laughs] No, but the show subverts what you think, and that’s what I love about it. Yeah, it was called 'Game of Thrones,' but at the end, the whole dialogue when people would approach me on the street was, “Who’s going to be on the throne?” I don’t know why that was their takeaway, because the show really was more than that.”
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It was the right time,” he concluded. “No less, no more. You don’t want to wear out your welcome, although I’m not sure that show could have. But I think the reason there was some backlash about the ending is because they were angry at us for breaking up with them. We were going off the air, and they didn’t know what to do with their Sunday nights anymore. They wanted more, so they backlashed about that.”
So while the ending obliterated what many thought was the show’s driving force, Dinklage thought it all made sense.
“One of my favorite moments,” he explained, “was when the dragon burned the throne because it sort of just killed that whole conversation, which is really irreverent and kind of brilliant on behalf of the show’s creators: ‘Shut up, it’s not about that....' They constantly did that, where you thought one thing, and they delivered another.”
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Through eight seasons and four Emmys, Dinklage created arguably the most enduring character in the show. And further, the show itself had an enduring effect on his own family.
“‘Game of Thrones’ wasn’t really a TV show, it was like my life,” Dinklage said. “My family was there in Ireland six months out of every year, for almost 10 years. You dig roots down there, my daughter was going to school there. She developed an Irish accent because she was with little Irish kids all day long.”
Dinklage explained how the success of the show turned into a classic case of a celebrity’s loss of privacy, with a modern twist.
He made an interesting analogy about cell phones being like fingers, and people don’t think twice about using them. “I moved to New York City to be anonymous,” said the actor. ‘Who cares? Nobody looks twice.’ And now, because of the technology, everybody does.”
But he’s also aware that those sorts of complaints can sound like sour grapes.
“People mean well,” he said, “but… I start to talk this way and then I stop myself, because for an actor to complain about that reflects poorly on you. Everybody is like, “You have a great life. What’s wrong with me taking your picture? You’re a performer, that’s my right.”
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"But it’s not about that," he added. "It’s more about just on a human level, I’m not a zoo animal. I’m a person. Let’s say I’m having a really bad day, or I just got off the phone and you’re right in my face. Am I supposed to smile for you? And why aren’t you actually communicating with me? More often than not, people take pictures without asking, and sometimes when I respond, even kindly, they don’t say anything because they’re almost surprised I’m talking to them. It’s really wild."
Dinklage is proving once again he can take whatever’s thrown at him. Like in “Cyrano,” where he had to train in singing and sword fighting for the role. But the challenge is exactly what attracted him to the part.
“I’ve got to be intimidated by it,” he said. “Anything that scares me gets my interest.”
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