How much is Peter Dinklage worth?
| Net Worth: | $20 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Actor |
| Date of Birth: | June 11, 1969 (age 53) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 4 ft 3 in (1.32 m) |
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About Peter Dinklage
Peter Hayden Dinklage, known to many as the fascinating and complex character of Tyrion Lannister in the world-famous Game of Thrones series, was born in Morristown, New Jersey on June 11, 1969. He has German, Irish, and English ancestry. His surname is German. His parents worked at fairly average middle-class jobs; his father was an insurance salesman, and his mother was an elementary school music teacher. He grew up with his parents and an older brother in the city of Mendham Township, in New Jersey.
He was born with a condition known as achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism in which one’s head and torso are normal-sized, but their arms and legs are shorter than normal. Peter is the only member of his family with this condition and since becoming famous has spoken out to educate and promote acceptance and do good. He is also a vegetarian saying, “I like animals, all animals. I wouldn’t hurt a cat or a dog – or a chicken or a cow. And I wouldn’t ask someone else to hurt them for me.” Anytime you see him eating a piece of meat on screen, it is actually a tofu product (it was tofu “beef” jerky, he was eating in The Station Agent (2003)).
American actor and producer Peter Dinklage has an estimated net worth of $20 million dollars, as of 2023. Dinklage has received acclaim for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister on the television series, Game of Thrones.
Peter experienced some difficulty in his early career as an actor, largely because he did not want to be cast in any of the stereotypical roles commonly played by actors with dwarfism, such as elves, dwarves, hobbits, leprechauns, and so on. He debuted alongside Steve Buscemi in an independent film titled Living in Oblivion in 1995.
The film was a low-budget dramatic comedy that imitated real life, since Peter played a frustrated actor with dwarfism who was fed up with being typecast for roles tailored to his physical condition. Despite the fact that he received excellent reviews from his role in Living in Oblivion, and obtained another role in the 1996 movie Bullet with rap artist Tupac Shakur, he still had trouble finding an agent.
Even while he was struggling as an actor to be cast, he turned down many roles in fantasy films and others because he didn’t want to be typecast. If he feels that his size is going to be used as the butt of jokes or if, in general, he feels that others like him may be ostracized by the role. He just won’t do it.
His turn-around moment finally arrived in the form of a 2003 film directed by Tom McCarthy called The Station Agent. Peter finally achieved his goal of obtaining a role that had more depth, and was not cast in the stereotypical dwarfism genre. He played a quiet and introspective man named Finbar McBride, who had character depth in the form of both romantic dimensions and character flaws.
Not only did the The Station Agent (2003) film receive strong positive reviews, it also was quite financially successful, netting $8.7 million at the box office, from just a $500,000 budget. Peter received numerous accolades and award nominations for his performance. From that time forward, he started receiving more roles in films, plays, and television shows, such as: Tiptoes (2003), Elf (2003), Richard III, Threshold (2005), The Baxter (2005), and Find Me Guilty (2006). Not all of the movies he acted in were successful and/or well received, but he usually received positive reviews for his individual performances, regardless.
Peter Dinklage obtained his most successful role to date in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, based on the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire written by George R. R. Martin. The highly successful series ran from 2011 through 2019, in which Peter played the major role of Tyrion Lannister. He was actually the first actor to be cast in the series, and the showrunners specifically wanted Peter for the role of Tyrion, based upon his keen intelligence, sharp wit, and sardonic humor. They thought he was the perfect fit for the role, and once Peter learned more about the character he would be playing, he immediately accepted. The rest, as they say, is history.
As the series became more and more popular, Tyrion’s fame virtually exploded making him no doubt the most famous midget of all time. Not to mention one of the most famous actors on TV regardless of height, and certainly one of the most well paid.
He received immense praise for his portrayal of Tyrion, which also earned him four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Upon accepting the award he called attention to the plight of Martin Henderson, a midget who was crippled after being attacked by a rugby player outside a bar. Dinklage has spoken up a lot for others and uses his platform to promote change.
In addition to Game of Thrones, Dinklage continued to work on other concurrent projects such as Knights of Badassdom (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Pixels (2015), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Many of these movies were also highly successful, for example Avengers: Infinity War, grossed $2.048billion.
Peter Dinklage has become incredibly famous and after going through times where he felt there was no hope for him at all. It just goes to show that with the right attitude, persistences and concentration on one’ craft and profession. When opportunities do arise, they can be fully capitalized on. If Dinklage had given up or taken roles that would eventually typecast his character, then the world may have been at a loss. For his performance as Tyrion Lannister, was certainly a pleasant surprise.
Breaking Down Peter Dinklage’s Net Worth
Game of Thrones salary: Dinklage earned a substantial amount of money for his role of Tyrion Lannister on, Game of Thrones (2011–2019). For about 53 episodes of the show he earned $500,000 per episode, which makes his total earnings for those episodes $26.5 million. For the last two seasons, season 7 and season 8. He was paid $1.1 million per episode. That was 13 episodes and so he earned a total of $14.3 million for those episodes, making his grand total earnings from his starring of Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, $40.8 million. Which also makes him one of the highest-paid actors on TV, ever.
Even as a child it was apparent that Peter Dinklage liked to perform in front of other people. He and his brother Jonathan would put on puppet musical shows for local audiences in their neighborhood. His brother became interested in music, and went on to become a professional violinist. In the 5th grade, Peter starred as the lead role in a school production of The Velveteen Rabbit. He enjoyed seeing the effect that his performance had on the audience, and he started worked on developing his acting abilities while attending an all boys Catholic preparatory school.
Dinklage was particularly inspired by a play that he saw in 1984 titled True West, and as a result made the decision to pursue a career as an actor. After prep school, he studied drama at Bennington College, and also started regularly performing in productions. After graduating from Bennington College in 1991, he and his friend Ian Bell moved to New York City, with the shared dream of building a theater company. They found this goal difficult to achieve, and Peter had to find a way to pay the bills, so he got a job in data processing. He worked in that profession for 6 years, before he was able to return to his original goal of pursuing a career as an actor.
Of course because of his disability, it put him at some disadvantage for potential roles. Dinklage has achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism in which the body is perfectly formed but the long bones of the arms and legs, do not grow long enough. On the flip side it was that very same disability, which perfectly positioned him for getting the role of Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones (2011) which is how he eventually earned his fortune.
In fact, he was George R.R. Martin’s first and only choice to play Tyrion Lannister. For his portrayal of the character, Dinklage was named one of “Eight Actors Who Turn Television into Art,” in a cover story of The New York Times Magazine.
In 2018, he won the 2018 Emmy Award in the Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category for his role as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones. That same year he was nominated for the New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Performing Arts category.
In total, Dinklage won the Emmy for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series” 4 times for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones. Setting a new record for the most wins by an actor in that category in the Emmys’ entire history.
So in the end, George R.R. Martin was right. The admiration goes both ways, as well. “George Martin is an incredible writer,” Dinklage has said.
The main ingredients of Peter Dinklage’s success as an actor appear to be a good amount of natural talent, combined with a strong desire to become an actor and years of persistent effort honing his acting skills and seeking out opportunities. Even after his breakthrough role in The Station Agent, success did not simply fall onto his lap. He still had to work hard to achieve success, seeking out opportunities and continuing to grow and evolve as an actor.
He turned down roles that may have typecast his character and so when the perfect fitting role came along, the role of Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin wanted Peter Dinklage and nobody else.
Summing-Up
Though his reluctance to accept typecast dwarf roles may have hindered his success in the beginning, it served him well in the long run, since the roles and praise he earned came from his genuine acting abilities, rather than from his physical stature. Many consider him to be a role model for others with dwarfism, though he doesn’t readily accept that mantle. Perhaps the very things that make him a good role model are his refusal to dwell upon the limitations associated with his condition, and his choice to focus on achieving the goal of becoming the finest actor he can be.
