Definitely among the best actors of his generation, let alone of all-time, Peter Dinklage brings so much soul to his performances that viewers can’t take their eyes off of him. In fact, he is so good at his craft that we fully expect Dinklage to not only remain a highly respected actor, but we think his career will go up from here.

Fantastic in a number of roles, there still is no doubt that Peter Dinklage is best known for the role that truly made him famous: Game of Thrones’ Tyrion Lannister. While we love him as that character just like everyone else, it shouldn’t be forgotten that before joining the cast of that series he’d already done a lot of impressive things. With that in mind, it is time to get to this list of 15 surprising facts about Peter Dinklage’s rise to fame.

15 Puppeteer

Peter Dinklage Sesame Street
Via YouTube.com

From a very young age, Peter Dinklage seems to have loved entertaining the people around him. For example, before Peter got bit by the acting bug for the first time, he and his brother began putting on puppet shows for the kids in their neighbourhood. Definitely not your typical puppet show for kids, the Dinklage brothers put on puppet musicals set to the “loudest songs (they) could find”.)

14 Surprising Take

Peter Dinklage and George R.R. Martin
Via Twitter.com

Seemingly born to play Tyrion Lannister since he was so fantastic in the role, you may have assumed that Peter Dinklage loves the books that Game of Thrones is based on. However, if he only took roles based on his appreciation of the source material, he never would’ve starred in Game of Thrones as he considers the books to be “confusing”. In fact, unless something has changed recently, he hasn’t finished all of the available books.

13 Spectacular Training

Via qz.com

While there is no doubt that Peter Dinklage has caught some lucky breaks, just like every other famous actor, it should also be noted that he worked hard to perfect his craft. Clearly, an accomplished performer who spent endless hours acting before he made it, Dinklage also graduated from Bennington College in Vermont with a Bachelor’s degree in Drama.

Related: Everything The Game Of Thrones Cast Has Said About The Show

12 School Role

Peter Dinklage young
Via thesun.co.uk

Earlier in this list, we looked at the fact that as a youngster Peter Dinklage liked to entertain the kids that lived near him. What we didn’t touch on at that time was that he acted for the first time when he played the titular animal in a fifth grade production of The Velveteen Rabbit. Speaking about how that felt with People magazine, Dinklage said: “When you get your first solo bow, that feels pretty good”.

11 Stage Skills

Peter Dinklage Onstage
Via hollywoodreporter.com

Obviously, best-known as a veteran of the big and little screen, Peter Dinklage also cares very deeply about another form of acting, performing onstage. Actually married to a theatre director, before Dinklage was a well-known commodity he was already turning heads while treading the boards alongside people like Meryl Streep.

10 Unique Introduction

Peter Dinklage Death at a Funeral
Via Twitter.com

As an actor, it is a great thing that Peter Dinklage doesn’t mind being the center of attention. Evidently completely unconcerned with judgemental people in his real-life as well, Peter has revealed that during his first day in college, he wore tights and a woman’s velvet cape to class. Speaking about that moment, Peter says that when people didn’t really react to his outfit, he knew that he’d “finally found a like-minded community”.

9 Meager Times

Peter Dinklage Mullet
Via parade.com

Obviously, an actor that has done very well for himself, Peter Dinklage hopefully won’t have to be overly worried about money at any time in the future. In his 20s, however, Dinklage and some friends lived in a slum under a bridge, trains went overhead constantly, and he sometimes went a full week eating nothing but toast. Worse yet, rats lived in their oven and when they complained to their landlord, he pulled a knife on them.

Related: 20 Photos Of Peter Dinklage That'll Make Game Of Thrones Fans Miss Him

8 Meant to be Siblings

Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey
Via hollywood.com

During pre-production on Game of Thrones, the show’s producers and George R.R. Martin had one actor in mind to play Tyrion, Peter Dinklage. Of course, that worked out perfectly but Peter brought something to the show that a lot of people are unaware of, Lena Headey. Already longtime friends before starring as siblings that hate each other, Peter suggested casting Lena as Cersei which was a genius idea.

7 Strong Stance

Peter Dinklage walking his dog
Via Pinterest.com

Over the years, a lot of actors have revealed that early in their career they were so worried about getting roles that they would pretend that they could do anything a role required and figure it out. On the other end of the spectrum, as a strict vegetarian Peter Dinklage has always forced producers to give him meat substitutes when his characters were carnivores. On top of that, in his private life, Peter is an outspoken animal rights activist who puts his time and money where his mouth is.

6 Musical Aspirations

Peter Dinklage's Punk Band
Via mashable.com

Given how much joy Peter Dinklage has brought into people’s lives as an actor, it seems abundantly clear that he picked the right career path. However, that in no way means that Peter didn’t have other plans for his life at various times. For example, during the ‘90s he was the frontman for a punk band called Whizzy.

Related: 15 Fun Facts About Rose Leslie's Time On Game Of Thrones

5 Office Work

Peter Dinklage 30 Rock
Via Pinterest.ca

In 2012, Peter Dinklage gave the commencement speech at his alma mater, Bennington College. While speaking to the graduating class, Dinklage said that when they first leave school they are likely to struggle but with hard work they can turn that around. For evidence of his claim, Peter spoke about how he worked for a data processing company for 6 years when he first graduated.

4 Major Buzz

Peter Dinklage The Station Agent
Via IMDb.com

After the release of 2003’s The Station Agent, a movie that has a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it was very safe to say that Peter Dinklage’s starring performance was praised. Nominated for a SAG Award and an Independent Spirit Award for his stellar work in the film, Dinklage was so great that he even got some Oscar buzz. Of course, he wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award but it always is amazing when a lesser-known actor gets buzz like that.

3 Early TV Role

Peter Dinklage Seinfeld
Via retroent.com

When it comes to Peter Dinklage, most of his fans have no idea he was a small part of a massively popular TV show long before Game of Thrones ever existed. Actually cast as a memorable Seinfeld character, when Elaine thought she’d fallen for the wake-up call guy based largely on his voice, it was Peter who recorded his dialogue.

2 Constant Rejection

Peter Dinklage photoshoot
Via thedailybeast.com

Unfortunately, throughout Hollywood history little people actors haven’t been given meaty roles they could sink their teeth into. As a result, we can only imagine how daunting trying to make it in Hollywood could’ve been for Peter Dinklage despite his obvious talents. While we don’t know of any specific roles he lost due to his size, Peter has been frank about rejecting a lot of offers to play characters based on his size that made him feel dirty.

1 Only One To Make The Cut

Death at a Funeral Original and Remake
Via impawards.com & IMDb.com

If you ask us, 2007’s British comedy Death at a Funeral, is one of the funniest modern movies and it deserves a much larger following. Actually remade for America in 2010, most characters were recast but Peter Dinklage was so perfect in the 2007 film that he played the same character in the remake.

Sources: goliath, didyouknowfacts, nme, buzzfeed, cinemablend, NJ, rottentomatoes

Next: 15 Lesser Known Facts About Jason Momoa's Time On Game Of Thrones