Peter Dinklage Was Smart to Say No
A deep dive into the actor's career and his decision to turn down roles that perpetuate harmful stereotypes
By Smith Dinitia
October 2, 2003
Peter Dinklage has been a working actor for over 25 years, but it wasn't until his breakout role in the HBO series "Game of Thrones" that he became a household name. Dinklage's performance as Tyrion Lannister, a witty and cunning dwarf, earned him four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. But long before he was a beloved TV star, Dinklage was struggling to find work in Hollywood. The roles he was offered were often stereotypical and one-dimensional, and he often felt that he was being typecast because of his dwarfism.
In a 2003 interview with The New York Times, Dinklage said, "I've been offered a lot of roles that are just dwarfs. They're not characters. They're just dwarfs. And I'm not interested in playing those roles. I want to play characters that have depth and complexity." Dinklage's decision to turn down these roles was a smart move. He knew that if he wanted to have a successful career, he needed to play characters that were more than just one-dimensional stereotypes.
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