Peter Dinklage has had moderate success since Game of Thrones came to an end, albeit a highly contentious one, in 2019.
His most recent project is a retelling of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac. The film, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Joe Wright, was recently pushed back to February 25 due to the new surge of COVID-19, but that hasn’t stopped the talented actor from promoting it.
When Dinklage sat down with The Times to discuss his new role, the conversation inevitably turned to Game of Thrones, a subject that the American actor has managed to avoid more than once in the past three years. But now, the actor who plays Tyrion Lannister has spoken out about the controversy surrounding the final season, admitting that while the show “offended a lot of people,” you can’t cater to everyone’s headcanon.
“You try [to avoid the chatter], but that was impossible. You’re reminded of it on a daily basis by the fans,” He said. “They had deep knowledge, but if somebody loves something they have their version of it in their head, so we got criticism early. Then, when we were leaving, they criticized us again because they didn’t want us to go. Some got angry. But if you appeal to everyone you’re doing something wrong. And we offended a lot of people.”
Dinklage’s words are reasonable, but I don’t think we can blame all of the Game of Thrones outrage on the fact that the show deviated from fan theories and speculations. Even creator George R. R. Martin was concerned that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss were veering off course after season five, though most fans probably wish he’d acted sooner.