Great Moments in Representation: Tyrion Lannister's Importance To Little People's Representation in Entertainment
Greg Ehrhardt, OnStage Blog Editorial Staff
This article is part of our “Great Moments in Representation” series, where we look back at important performances from underrepresented groups in Theatre, TV, and Movies.
Part One: Wicked’s Importance to The Stage Representation of Women
When it comes to being defined stereotypically on screen or on stage, one particular group of people who could claim never to get a fair shot at representation were little people, defined by Little People Of America as a medical or genetic condition that usually results in an adult height of 4'10" or shorter, among both men and women.
Little People characters in books, television, and movies were often written to be laughed at or designed as a spectacle: they usually are jesters, clowns, and circus performers in fiction. They aren’t taken seriously as characters unless we are in the fantasy realm like ‘Lord of The Rings’ or ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, and even then, they are often portrayed similarly (miners, drinkers, rowdy, and sometimes kindly whimsical characters).
Even in movies such as “Wizard of Oz” where they are generally portrayed favorably (although stereotypically), they are a metaphor for the main character’s journey, with no interest in who the characters are outside the hero’s story.
In terms of impact on popular culture, this irrevocably changed for the better with Peter Dinklage’s portrayal of Tyrion Lannister in the HBO show “Game of Thrones.”
Tyrion is one of the most important characters in ‘The Songs of Ice and Fire’ by George R.R. Martin and the most unique. Tyrion is a little person in the Lannister family that prides itself on wealth, prestige, and legacy. He mostly fits the Lannister part in the first books and the first season of the TV adaptation. He throws his wealth around like a comic throws insults; he indulges in wine and women like it is his job and seemingly enjoys a life of guilty pleasures.
However, his dwarfism is his cross to bear, and a blinking red light of a cross at that, with no way to hide it from anyone who tries to take him down a peg or two, including his father and sister, who remind him throughout the show that due to killing his mother in childbirth, he will always shame his family by his mere presence.
That aspect made the representation of little people so crucial to the success of Game of Thrones. Jaime and Cersei, Tyrion’s siblings, can hide their secret from the world, at least for a while. Tyrion stands out immediately, and there is no hiding who he is or what his entrance to the world cost. That is an incredible character stain for a little person, who also cannot hide who he is from anyone in Westeros, unlike many other characters.
It starts with Martin’s decision to make the character a little person in the first place.
Not only did Martin make Tyrion a central character in the books, but he was also, in some ways, the book’s most identifiable character and most certainly the show’s conscience, especially after the first season.
Martin made Tyrion just like any other character: flawed, with many shades of gray to his moral compass. In addition, he was funny, wise, and, at certain points, heroic, just like many other characters.
Usually, little people in entertainment are in movies or TV for comic relief, and sometimes, they give sage advice to more central characters.
Rarely, even in the fantasy realm, are they given depth and flaws like other characters. For example, Warwick Davis’s portrayal of Willow was a pioneering moment for Little People in the 1980s, but Willow was nowhere near as complicated or entertaining a character as Tyrion Lannister. Willow was an unapologetic hero: kind, gentle, and fearless, among other admirable qualities. This made him a role model, but also not relatable for anybody because most people are not uniformly kind and gentle.
We’ve had little people actors going back to the 1930s, mostly in absurdist spoof movies when not in the fantasy realm, but I believe pop culture’s views of little people changed for good on the small screen in Game of Thrones, precisely because Tyrion was so flawed, and also because Peter Dinklage crushed the role in a way you would think the only actor possibly to portray Tyrion Lannister was him.
The purpose of entertainment is always to entertain first and advance social causes second. Still, we cannot deny the role of entertainment in advancing social progress on the screen and off: for example, “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” and “All In The Family”. No doubt audiences in the real world viewed little people slightly differently, thanks to Dinklage's nuanced and award-winning performance of Tyrion.
The bulk of the credit for Tyrion Lannister goes to George R.R. Martin, but credit must also be given to HBO. It's easy to think that a show would HAVE to cast a little-person character with a little-person actor. Still, we have two movies coming out in the next year casting little people, one of which decided to erase little people from the movie so as not to offend anyone, so credit still needs to be given for what we think should be obvious. Game of Thrones could have easily played camera or CGI tricks to make any actor look like a little person.
One could also say that it’s the essence of acting to be able to play any character. This is somewhat true; a skilled actor could have performed similarly to Dinklage, certainly 80-90% as well.
But that extra 10-20% makes good shows great and great shows special. The best representation of the extra 10-20% that Dinklage gave to his performance, what only a little person actor could give portraying a little person, is found in this scene where Tyrion is on trial for the murder of King Joffrey.
“I am guilty of a far more monstrous crime. I am guilty of being a dwarf…I have been on trial for that my entire life.”
In that speech, Tyrion acknowledges that everyone in Westeros will see him, first and probably last, as a dwarf and will be judged as such no matter what he does. Every little person must feel that way in some respect. Any actor can talk to little people and understand their feelings and replicate their frustrations and anger as best they can. Only a little person can genuinely relay that type of passion on screen.
The speech is a showstopper, a true “Woah” monologue that no actor who is not a little person could ever hope to replicate in any audition.
Peter Dinklage, famously, never took roles that served comic relief purposes in a movie. He considered himself an actor first and would only take roles where he could act just like anybody else. He had success pre-Game of Thrones, most famously in “Elf”, but also in Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and “The Station Agent”, among other credits.
Dinklage became a box office star during and after Game of Thrones, headlining several movies and showing the world that little people can play any character like anybody else.
Dinklage is a bit of a unicorn; we haven’t seen a wave of little people actors get big movie parts. Some fellow Little People actors also don’t look kindly upon Dinklage, saying he purposely looks out for only himself and not the Little People community.
But as audiences continue to see him in roles like ‘Cyrano’ and the upcoming ‘The Hunger Games’, prequels, the movies he stars in, at minimum, set a precedent for other little people actors to hold out for regular parts in big movies and shows, provided they have the talent and the charisma.
Having enough talent and charisma for the box office is easier said than done for any actor, never mind a little person actor.
But every actor wants an equal chance at a big role along with any other actor.
Peter Dinklage blazed that trail for little people. If I had to bet, he wouldn’t be the last we see of people like him in movies, and big production shows to come.
That’s why representation matters.