Q&A: Lusting for Mr. Dinklage
by Elissa
Wald
Forty minutes into the new film The Station Agent, I asked the person next
to me what time it was. I did this without thinking. Peter Dinklage had just smiled for the first time in the film, and the
moment was so gratifying that my impulse was to try to mark it somehow. Until then, I hadn't understood how ardently I'd been
waiting for it.
The film's director, Tom McCarthy, has a more dramatic story. "One woman," he says,
"actually confessed to me, 'I'll be honest with you, I had a severe phobia of little people. But, he's hot, and I'm cured.
I'm ashamed to say I had it, but I did.' She really wanted to tell me that".
Lately, Dinklage's startling and unconventional sex appeal is everywhere. Not long
after the release of The Station Agent, PEOPLE magazine included
him in their "Sexiest Men Alive" issue. "New York Daily News" gossip columnist Lloyd Grove remarked, "Beautiful women are
all over Peter Dinklage like a cheap suit". Co-star Patricia Clarkson described him as "one of the sexiest men I've ever met".
And an article in this month's GQ begins by declaring, "Peter Dinklage walks into a bar...and women swoon." But it's no joke.
I met with Dinklage in the lobby of New York's Public Theatre, where he has been
rehearsing the title role in Shakespeare's Richard III, to discuss
all the fuss.
EW: PEOPLE magazine recently included you in their "Sexiest
Men Alive" issue, and, I have to say I'm in perfect agreement with them on this point. What's that been like?
PD: Well, my friends have certainly had fun with it. I mean,
come on. It's silly.
EW: You're not having fun with it?
PD: You have to have a sense of humor about that. I don't
know. I don't really see myself that way. I mean it's fun; it's fine. Anything to promote something you really want people
to go see, something you really love and care about, like The Station Agent.
EW: What makes someone sexy is often mysterious. It can be a quality quite apart from
classic beauty. What makes someone sexy to you?
PD: It comes in so many different forms and moments. Surprising
things. The way someone sits, or, picks something up off the floor. Compassion, a sense of humor. I think a great sense of
humor also indicates intelligence. I mean, the smartest people I know are also the funniest people I know. They see things
in life that others don't, and I find that very attractive. Especially when they allow you to share what they see. Creativity.
Someone who inspires me, challenges me. somebody smarter than me.
EW: In other interviews you've
said that in movies, Dwarves are generally portrayed as either wise sages or folls, but they are not sexual, and they don't
get the girl. To what extent is The Station Agent an exception
to this rule?
PD: I think it's a terribly romantic film.
But, it's not a cut and dried romance, which is what I find beautiful about it. It explores that gray area where it's awkward,
the timing is a bit off. I would always ask (director) Tom (McCarthy) throughout shooting, "Am I in love with Olivia (co-star,
Patricia Clarkson)?" And, he gave me the best response. He'd say, "I don't know. Are you?" Which was great--because it's not
one hundred percent clear, it's up to the viewer and up to myself. I just loved that. And I love that the characters fumble
through these moments. They're very lonely people, they don't know how to connect with others. It's so true to life. They
stumble and they make mistakes. I find that very romantic and very nice.
EW: You said you're very happy to play the fool,
but, as far as I can tell, you never have. In all the movies I've seen you in, you play an unequivocal Alpha Male. Is that
a concerted decision on your part?
PD: An Alpha Male?
EW: Yes.
PD: Really? What exactly do you mean by that?
EW: Someone who
holds the most authority in every scene.
PD: Man, I've got to play fewer Alpha Male roles.
EW: And, of course
Richard III is another one.
PD: Yeah, my God, he's the epitome. Well, maybe it's my defense mechanism: I have to go to the
other extreme to prove my point. But, maybe I shouldn't do that anymore. I don't know. Maybe I have been pigeonholing myself in response to those stupid elf roles. I haven't really thought about that.
EW: If that has been what you've been doing, would
there be anything wrong with that?
PD: No, I guess not. But, you know, as an actor I want to play a variety of roles. I guess
I have been quite forceful in a lot of these movies. But The Station Agent wasn't like that, was it?
EW: Well, even if The Station Agent, the other characters generally
seem to defer to Fin. Joe (played by Bobby Cannavale) certainly defers to him...
PD: Right...
EW: ...and chases him around, and it almost seems as if Joe has a crush on him as well.
PD: Yeah, I guess so. I have to question that. But, what other parts are there to play? What's
the middle ground?
EW: Your choices so far have been interesting.
PD: When I get a script, one of the first things I look at is the sexuality, the attraction.
I think that's what we all do. We seek out attraction. I think that's very important. I hate intellectualizing characters.
I like to get very basic with them at first, get that foundation. And a lot of that is sexuality.
EW: In The Station
Agent, Joe asks Fin what a lot of people might be wondering, that is, about the details of his
sex life. How did you feel about that scene?
PD: That was really wild. It had a strange energy.
We were sitting on top of that caboose during that scene, and a lot of credit is due to Bobby Cannavale. His character was
coming off that experience of being emasculated by...you know, we were having so much fun with Olivia and then suddenly this
guy (her husband) comes in, and it was like, the fun's over. So, it's sort of like, @#%$ him, you know, we were (each) starting
to really find a place with these two other people that (we're) really starting to love, and then that's taken away. Joe,
in response to that, starts thinking about his own sexuality, and then was like, 'Well, what about you?'
EW: In the film, Fin is very supportive of Clea,
a neighborhood child, and her classmates when they have questions inspired by his size. You've said in other interviews that
kids are naturally curious about and you want to encourage that. In your mind, what is ultimately the difference between a
child's curiosity and an adult's?
PD: Unfortunately, a lot of kids' curiosity is squelched by their parents. Adults don't want
to embarrass somebody else, but that perpetuates itself, and it can lead to shutting out anyone who's different than you.
Obviously we all do have these societal behaviors that we have to abide by. But, I talk to some people who just don't want
to meet my eyes. They think looking at me is rude, because
they were brought up not to point or stare or whatever.
EW: So averting their eyes is more desirable?
PD: Yeah. And, that hurts. But, that's how they were raised; it's no fault of theirs. It's
learned behavior.
EW: Have you read the book, "Geek Love"?
PD: Yeah, it's great.
EW: In that book, being markedly different from others
makes one a freak, and freakhood is an exalted status, whereas regular people are referred to as "norms", and they're seen
as deficient and pitiable. What relationship, if any, do you have with this concept?
PD: The magical quality of freaks?
EW:
Or, the deficient quality of "norms"? Is this something you've entertained?
PD: Not at all. We're all in the same boat.
EW:
To borrow some questions from Nerve Personals: What was the last great book you read?
PD: Baby, I Don't Care--it's the Robert Mitchum biography.
EW: Your most humbling moment?
PD: Clint Eastwood loving my performance. That was
really cool.
EW: Favorite on-screen-sex scene?
PD: The first six minutes of Betty
Blue.
EW: Celebrity you resemble most?
PD: Peter Dinklage.
EW: Best
(or worst) lie you've ever told?
PD: I don't lie. (That was it.)
EW:
If you could be anywhere at the moment?
PD: Here with you.
EW: Awww.
Song or album that puts you "in the mood"?
PD: Loveless, by "My Bloody Valentine".
EW: Timely. The five items you can't live without?
PD: Mom, movies, books, friends, and kisses.
EW:
In your bedroom, one will find?
PD: A mattress. I just moved in. Linens and other
donations are welcome.
