Conversations
that it’s not your problem; it’s theirs.”
Two years ago, a New York Times reporter asked Peter whether he saw himself as a spokesman for the rights of “little people,” and he replied, “I don’t know what I would say. Everyone’s different. Every person my size has a different life, a different history. Different ways of dealing with it. Just because I’m seemingly okay with it, I can’t preach how to be okay with it. I don’t think I still am okay with it. There are days when I’m not.”
Fortunately, Peter was “okay with it” when Conversations did a one-on-one with him later that afternoon. He was an engaging interviewee, with an almost booming voice, and after shaking hands with him at the conclusion of the interview, he seemed to me to stand six-feet tall.
You’re a first-timer on the X-Men franchise. How’s the experience so far?
“It’s great being included in this party. It’s such a thrill. You know, it goes back to the storytelling from this amazing comic books through this whole series of films. I knew I was coming into something safe, a well-oiled machine they call it. It’s a great, complex character that, nine times out of 10, would take a great actor to do it. That’s what the script is looking for.”
(“The idea of a multi-layered villain led to the casting of Dinklage,” producer-screenwriter Simon Kinberg was quoted in the production notes. “Peter brings not just the notion of being different physically but a real depth of emotion and humanity to his work. With Peter, Trask becomes reliable. He’s somebody the audience actually cares about even as they root against him.”)
Which of the other characters would you have chosen to play aside from Dr. Bolivar Trask?
“Well, it’s been 14 years since I saw my first X-Men film. It was the first movie and I believe that the true diehard comic-book fans were always waiting for. It was the first film in the superhero comic-book genre that was darker than the ones that came before it because it draws from human history and the complexity of ourselves. Maybe it speaks of a more cynical time but, as I said, it’s the kind of story that the fans have been waiting for. Oh, which other character would I have chosen to play? Still Dr. Bolivar Trask; I love the character.”
What was most memorable to you doing the movie and on the set?
“Oh, you never forget the first moment on a movie like this, seeing all those amazing faces on the set. The first time may be nerve-wracking but, yes, it’s always memorable, especially doing the scenes with the actors, the core group from the original, and the new ones. It was fun.”
You’ve been shuttling between the sets of X-Men and Game of Thrones while doing so many other things. How do you juggle your time?
“I don’t know. You just sort of have to go away and do it and hope for the best. I mean, I have a small staff that helps me with those things, organizing my time. I shot my scenes in X-Men for more than two weeks in Montreal, Canada (the whole filming was wrapped up in two months), and right after that I had to shoot the next season of Game of Thrones. These are two massive projects and it’s incredible how they were able to accommodate my schedule.”
Very obviously, you have fun playing both your X-Men and Thrones characters. “Great parts!” You have millions of fans all over the world. Do you get in touch with them through social media?
“I don’t really resort to social media. I prefer getting close to them in person, like what we did yesterday on the Blue Carpet before the screening. I shook hands with them, have photos with them… you know, selfie! It was a mad house but I like it. I live in New York ( with his wife Erica Schmidt, a theater director whom he married in 2005; and their only daughter), one of the biggest cities in the world where you face people every day. People love Game of Thrones and X- Men series, so I get approached all the time and it’s always nice.”
What’s the biggest decision you’ve made that radically changed your life?
“Oh boy! I guess it’s the biggest change in my life…being a parent now. And there’s no going back to the life that came before.”
(For more on Peter Dinklage, watch Startalk on GMA this afternoon starting at 4 o’clock.)
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