Game of Thronesfans came out in force today to celebrate their very own Tyrion Lannister, akaPeter Dinklageon his 52nd birthday. While already a well-established actor, it was his role as hard-done-by Tyrion that brought him to the attention of many new fans and gave his career an amazing boost. Since his time on Thrones, he doesn’t seem to have stopped for breath, even having a role of a rather large “dwarf” inAvengers: Infinity War, one who as it turns out played an important part in the proceedings, building Stormbreaker for Thor.
Dinklage was born in New Jersey in 1969, and studied acting atBennington Collegebefore starting work in a guitar shop and partaking in a number of amateur dramatic productions. He made his film debut inLiving in Oblivionin 1995, an independent dark comedy that also starred Steve Buscemi and Catherine Keener. His big break didn’t come until 2003, when he had the lead role of Finbar McBride inThe Station Agent. Dinklage played a quiet, unmarried man with dwarfism who finds solitude in a deserted train station in a small town in New Jersey.
From here on out with every subsequentbirthday, Dinklage’s career just seemed to go from strength to strength. He appeared inElfwith Will Ferrell, the 2005 reboot ofLassie,Death at A Funeralin 2007,The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspianin 2008, had his first foray into the world of Marvel Comics withX-Men Days of Future Past, andThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouriin 2017. He made hisMarvel Cinematic Universedebut the following year as Eitri inAvengers: Infinity Warin 2018, and the same year starred in the title role of a new musical adaptation ofCyrano de Bergerac.
However, no matter how successful his film career, it was being cast as Tyrion Lannister inGame of Thronesin 2011 that really had an astronomic effect on his popularity. He was the first actor to be cast in the series, a whole two years before the series first aired, which showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss said was always their plan because of the actor’s “core of humanity, covered by a shell of sardonic dry wit, is pretty well in keeping with the character.” However it wasn’t a given that he would accept the role, having been choosy about playing in genre series and saying that as a dwarf he would not “play fantasy elves or leprechauns.” Not being familiar with George R R Martin’s books, it took only half a meeting with Benioff and Weiss for him to sign on.
Dinklage won four Emmy Awards for his role asTyrion, as well as a Golden Globe, and from the second season, he was given top billing on the show. He has many projects currently in the works, including the movie version ofCyrano, theToxic Avengerreboot, a voice over inHitpigand newly announcedThe Wild BunchandThe Dwarf. As his fans celebrated his birthday today, they will be happy to know we will seeing a lot more of him to come in the future. Check out some of the birthday messages from his Twitter fans and colleagues below.
