Peter Dinklage

The greatest preparation for a TV show is to already have one season behind you.

We're not environmentally doing very good things to this planet, and we might not be around too long.

We, as Americans, at least - I mean, I love my country - but we're so self-righteous sometimes, in terms of, like, our nationality, our country. But we're people from somewhere else; the true 'Americans' are the original peoples. It's funny, but we're a very territorial species.

There's a thing at the Museum of Natural History in New York, where I live: they have a stairwell where you follow the beginning and the course of this planet, and it's a very long stairwell, and you follow, and you follow, and then you reach the top, and we're, like, half a step on the stairwell - the timeline for us on this planet.

Animals used for food are treated like unfeeling machinery.

Every person my size has a different life, a different history. Different ways of dealing with it. Just because I'm seemingly O.K. with it, I can't preach how to be O.K. with it. I don't think I still am O.K. with it. There's days when I'm not.

I knew David Benioff a bit socially. I knew his wife, Amanda Peet. He's a smart guy, so I always sought him out at dinner parties.

Even 'Lord of the Rings' had dwarf-tossing jokes in it. It's like, 'Really?'

As an adolescent, I was bitter and angry, and I definitely put up these walls.

When people are infected by my charm, they don't see my size. My piercing deep blue eyes are distracting.

It was hard doing scenes with Bobby Cannavale because I would break up laughing because he's so funny.

I would love to play Richard III.

I think more money can be very detrimental to movies and TV because things get solved economically rather than creatively, and that's never a good solution.

I think with a lot of filmmakers, their first film is their best film because they had to think on their feet and solve problems with ingenuity.

Each year, billions of animals are subjected to cruelty on factory farms, feed lots, and slaughterhouses. The brutality that these animals endure would be grounds for felony cruelty charges if inflicted upon our cats and dogs.

With a lot of shows, what you'll see happen is they start off really well, and they're very original, but they become sort of a version of themselves. They stand outside the show... they become a cliche of the show they once were. That's the whole 'jumping the shark' thing.

I think everybody goes through changes, and the same should be said for fictional characters, especially ones that you follow on television.

People's personalities get tweaked at weddings.

There are a lot of directors out there who are very specific, visual craftsmen, and while I have the utmost respect for that, they don't really communicate with the actors.

Fantasy novels, I don't really gravitate to that part of the bookstore.

Anybody who was in 'The Godfather' is a tough guy.

There are wars being fought! Who cares what I'm doing on a Saturday night? I'm not even a celebrity.

I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It was quite absurd.

I'm recognized, let me put it that way.

You want your privacy as a human being.

I saw a report on the news: 'Peter Dinklage tweeted... ' What? You know, I don't need any of that stuff. I got an email account; that's all I need.

Sometimes on sets, I shut down, try to focus.

It's amazing what they can do with animation nowadays. It's really beautiful. The 3D stuff is out of hand.

Anything that opens up people's perceptions a bit is good.

I'm always attracted to anti-hero roles.

I think successful movies that are based on books are their own thing. I think if you're too faithful, word by word, character trait to character trait, it can hurt the movie.

It is hard working with animals, I've got to say.

'Lassie' was amazing. I didn't have any scenes with humans. There's a couple little bits, here or there, but mainly just me and my horse and a couple of dogs in the Isle of Man.

It's a shame how a lot of actors use theater as a stepping stone to film and television work; I think it shouldn't be treated that way. Maybe it's narcissism or something. I think we should always go back to it. I try and do a play a year, and I think that's really helped me.

You'd be surprised how condescending people can be.

Maybe in my 20s I was a little more lively. But I'm done with that.

I like the busted-nose look. I think it's a good look for me.

Does anybody actually go out in L.A.? When I lived there, I'd just stay in my apartment.

I just don't like boring myself. That's one of the main reasons I did 'Ice Age' - because I'd never done something like this before.

Will Ferrell is just about the nicest guy - anyone can tell you that.

I often don't see what I've done, or I cringe when I watch myself.

I'm not going to play my violin, but with my dwarfism, I'm a bit of a mutant.

Sometimes, when the material is really good, you put expectations on yourself to make it the best possible show. You're not just serving up the regular hash and doing your job and going home.

I never know where women are coming from.

'Star Wars' or 'The Lord of the Rings' deal with great big Joseph Campbell-style myths, good and evil.

Women respond to comfort and a sense of humor. I was always able to make them laugh, so that helps a lot.

Women on the whole are often not as shallow as men are. They can be, but they cut through things a little more easily than men do in terms of that superficial stuff.

If I was born 400 years ago instead of now, I wouldn't have the life I have. There were freak shows, and there was horrible discrimination.

'Game of Thrones' fans are the nicest people ever, but a thousand nice people coming at me gives me claustrophobia.

Friends don't care about issues like dwarf tossing.