The most shocked moment about Peter Dinklage
Peter Dinklage was born with a type of dwarfism, achondroplasia, that affected his bone growth. He stands at 4′ 5″ tall, and Peter’s head and torso are average size while his arms and legs are shortened. Peter has an incredible sense of self, knowing that he wanted to be an actor from a very young age.
Peter knew he didn’t want to be typecast into playing elves or leprechauns; he wanted to play real people with dreams of romance and achieving success. Peter wanted to act in any role where his condition didn’t limit him, though we all know he took on the part of Tyrion Lannister to great acclaim. Dinklage won an Emmy four times for his portrayal of Tyrion, and he also won an Golden Globe for his role.
What I thought was most interesting about Peter isn’t shocking, but it shows just how much he thinks about his life and the lives of so many others who have his condition. Peter said he was bitter about his dwarfism when he was younger, but he learned to have a “sense of humor” about his size and he realized “it’s not your problem, it’s theirs.”
In 2012 Peter was asked if he was a spokesman for little people, and he said each person with size issues has a different path, a different history, and different ways of dealing with it. Dinklage is still seen as an advocate for little people, even though he does not seek to be that.
What I thought was brilliant was Peter’s speech when he accepted his award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series. He told the audience “ that he had been thinking about a gentleman named Martin Henderson” and asked people to google that man’s name. It turns out that Martin Henderson had dwarfism and had been badly injured at a bar when a rugby player tossed him about. That was in 2012.
The incident became widespread news along with dwarf-tossing and how horrible that act is. Martin Henderson succumbed to his injuries from the tossing and died in 2016. Peter brought that act of dwarf-tossing to the forefront and showed how cruel and unacceptable it is that small people are treated this way. Peter Dinklage never spoke about Henderson again, but that one time was enough to get the message across.
The shocking thing about Peter Dinklage is his ability to not bow to the expectations of other people, especially in the acting industry where someone who has dwarfism is typecast. Peter decided to play regular people. He turned down so many roles because he found them to be unsuitable. Peter Dinklage worked to be seen as a regular actor in his own right, and I think by the time he was on Game of Thrones, he was no longer seen as a little person at all.
Peter Dinklage had overcome others’ prejudice (if they had them), and we saw in Tyrion a man with aspirations, flaws, his wanting to be loved by an unloving father and sister, and a man with a healthy sexual appetite. We saw Peter for who he was in that series and all the roles he’s chosen to play since then. He fought to be taken seriously, and this man can act! I’m happily shocked that he made it. Peter Dinklage is an excellent actor, and we no longer see his size because he fills the screen with his persona.
