Published in the October 2013 issue Life of Man issue
I first saw Peter Dinklage in Living in Oblivion, in 1995. Playing an actor named Tito, dressed in powder-blue tails and a matching top hat, he accosts the director of the film-within-the-film, played by Steve Buscemi. Tito is furious because he has been cast as a dwarf in a dream sequence.
"Why does my character have to be a dwarf?" he asks Buscemi, who's too flustered by the question to answer directly, which serves only to inflame him.
"Is that the only way you can make this a dream — put a dwarf in it?" he snarls. "Have you ever had a dream with a dwarf in it? Do you know anyone who's had a dream with a dwarf in it? Nooooo! I don't even have dreams with dwarves in them. The only place I've seen dwarves in dreams is in stupid movies like this."
Whereupon Tito shoves the top hat into Buscemi's gut and storms off the set. It's a short scene, rendered more caustic than funny — and unforgettable — by the fact that Dinklage is shown only in profile throughout his rant. His hero-handsome profile, his lion's roar, his regal rage: As Game of Thrones fans know, Dinklage plays for keeps, not laughs.
