Peter Dinklage refused to grow beard in early seasons of Game of Thrones, didn’t want to get stereotyped after Narnia role

Actor Peter Dinklage is considered among the greatest actors on television after delivering eight seasons worth of amazing performances on Game of Thrones. However, even an actor as beloved as he feared being stereotyped in the industry.

As per a new book, Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon by James Hibberd, editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly who spent years documenting cast and crew interviews from the hit show, Peter had refused to grow a bread for the show initially. The way Tyrion Lannister’s character was written in the George RR Martin book, he was supposed to have a long, thick beard. However, Peter believed it would earn him a stereotype after he had just played a fantastical dwarf with a long, flowing white beard, in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Over the seasons, as Tyrion became a hit with fans and earned Peter multiple awards, he finally gave and got a scruffy, dark beard. A white, long-flowing one was still out of question. “This is why Tyrion is clean-shaven in the first few seasons,” Hibberd explained in his book. “After the character was established, he does end up growing his kind of cool, rockstar beard.”

David Benioff, one half of the show’s creator duo, had said in a New York Times interview that Peter was the only choice to play Tyrion because of his “core of humanity, covered by a shell of sardonic dry wit, is pretty well in keeping with the character.”

Peter also spoke to NYT and said, “Dwarves in these genres always have this look. My guard was up. Not even my guard — my metal fence, my barbed wire was up. Even ‘Lord of the Rings’ had dwarf-tossing jokes in it. It’s like, ‘Really?’” However, he was convinced by Benioff and DB Weiss’ vision. “He’s somebody who turns that on its head. No beard, no pointy shoes, a romantic, real human being.”

Also read: Virat Kohli asks Anushka Sharma from the field if she has eaten, watch their cute exchange

Peter is now going to work with Lilly Singh as the voice cast of the animated movie Hitpig. The Office star Rainn Wilson, stand-up comic Hannah Gadsby of Nanette fame, award-winning TV personality RuPaul and Dany Boon, best known for the French comedy Raid: Special Unit, are also part of the voice cast.

Follow @htshowbiz on Twitter