Peter Dinklage has a message for HBO: Take more risks. During an interview this week with Marc Maron on the “WTF” podcast, Dinklage was talking about the upcoming “Game of Thrones” spinoff series “House of the Dragon” when he urged HBO not to solely rely on “proven things that work.” There are several “Game of Thrones” spinoffs in development outside of “House of the Dragon,” including “Tales of Dunk and Egg” and an animated series. “Dragon” arrives this year and will surely be one of HBO’s biggest series of 2022.
“I have an opinion,” Dinklage when Maron brought up “House of the Dragon” during the interview. “Make something — I think it is going to be a really good show. The director and producer of it worked on our show, and I think it’s going to be really fucking good. But, they took a risk on our show, HBO did. It’s under all new leadership there now. They took a huge risk on our show. It was a slow start, but why don’t they do that again? This isn’t a risk. It’s a proven thing that works.”
“House of the Dragon” hails from co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik, who was behind the camera as director on several of the original “Game of Thrones” series most blockbuster episodes. Sapochnik won an Emmy for directing the famous sixth season episode “Battle of the Bastards.” Dinklage and Maron agreed “Succession” was a similar risk that has since paid off for HBO with Emmy wins and high viewership.
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Since “House of the Dragon” is a prequel series, Dinklage will not be reprising his role of Tyrion Lannister on the new “Thrones” series. The actor recently told The Sunday Times that he misses playing Tyrion, although the same can’t be sad for the endless fan backlash “Thrones” generated across its run.
“You try [to avoid the chatter], but that was impossible,” Dinklage said. “You’re reminded of it on a daily basis by the fans. 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 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.”
