Interview with Peter Dinklage about The Station Agent
This is an interview actor Peter Dinklage did regarding “The Station Agent” back in 2003. Dinklage, is a serious acting treasure that I wish was utilized more, espeically as he is taking roles that have nothing to do with his size AND the dude has done Hamlet. I was stoked to read his comments about Verne Troyer, cause there really is no reason to hate other people for their decisions, just make your own based on your own set of values. This interview was by Rebecca Murray of About.com.
Had you worked with Bobby Cannavale before?
No, Bobby and I became friends in the process of making this movie. Tom [McCarthy] wrote the rough draft about 3 years ago for the three of us [Dinklage, Cannavale and Patricia Clarkson]. Over that period of time we became close friends. Making this movie over 20 days, 6 days a week, you become fast, good friends under all the pressure. You are sort of holding on to each other like, “We’re going to get through this together.” It’s so much fun working with good friends. You have so many laughs and Tom was so open to our input.
How did you get inside a character who is so isolated?
It was a challenge because Tom knew me as an actor and those aren’t the roles I usually play. I usually play a sort of extroverted character, the little supporting roles who come in and chew the scenery. But Tom, because he’s an actor himself, knows how it’s great to be challenged as an actor. He wanted to challenge all of us as actors.
At least in my case, I was incredibly challenged. He knew the tricks up my actor’s sleeve and what I usually rely on. He was like, “Pete, just strip away all that stuff that I know you can do. I don’t want you to do any of that. You’ve got to simplify this.” There’s not much dialogue to rely on so you’ve got to rely on the simplicity of this person.
The great thing is I don’t think this character is shy. That’s not a reason why he disconnects himself. He’s a very direct person. It was interesting to play that, somebody who was isolated but doesn’t have a shy quality about him. He’s not really bitter. He’s perfectly comfortable in this path he’s chosen. He just doesn’t know what he’s missing and he finds out midway through the movie.
Did you feel like the script was pretty well set by the time you started?
Yes. We were trying to find funding and we were shot down a couple of times. There were times that were like, “God, are we ever going to make this movie?” But we really all were very determined. We weren’t going to make it if one of us wasn’t a part of it.
Were there many changes made during the 20-day shoot?
Oh yeah, we would change things, minor things, while we were shooting it. Because we were close friends and he knew we knew these characters so well, by the time we shot this movie he trusted us. It’s a great feeling to have someone trust you so much.
I loved working under that pressure. On a movie set, as an actor you just sit around. The crew is always the hardest working bunch on a movie set, but as an actor, you say two words a day and then there’s a lot of just sitting around smoking cigarettes. But in this, we were shooting five scenes in one day. It was great working under that pressure.
In the movie, people walk by and make comments. Does that really happen?
Oh yeah, every day. You’ve just got to let that stuff roll off your back. I try to have a good sense of humor about life but I’m not going to play my sentimental violin. Everybody has some sort of pain in their life, I don’t want to set my pain above anybody else’s. That’s what this movie does – it doesn’t slip into that ‘me me’ sentiment.
I have a good sense of humor about life. I try to although I was in a subway about a year ago in New York and I felt this hand on my shoulder – this is an example I go back to – and I turned around and this older woman sort of looked at me and said, “I’m sorry. I just needed good luck today.” I’m a push-over and it’s an older woman. I went, “Oh, good luck.” She left the subway and I left the subway thinking, “What the f***?” And it sunk in – of course after she left. It was a little violating. It’s little things like that.
Do you feel like there are more opportunities for roles that don’t exploit or play to your size?
I’ve been lucky. Any actor who gets to make his living doing what he loves doing is pretty lucky. I’ve found these groups of artists who are writing good material, like Tom McCarthy. He’s one of my closest friends and he wrote this script for Patty, Bobby and myself. I’ve been fortunate to work with people over and over again in good projects.
Is Verne Troyer helping the cause or not?
I don’t have judgment about that stuff because I’m a huge fan of those movies. I think Mike Myers is hilarious and I have no judgment about that stuff. I’m not a spokesperson or activist for people my size. I’m not going to get on my soapbox about that stuff. People can do what they want to do. Sure, it might perpetuate a stereotype but I’m not going to be a hypocrite because I had a grand time at those movies. I was laughing my butt off at those movies. I’m not going to cast judgment upon it. But for me personally, that’s something I try and stay away from that.
Often roles written for somebody my size are a little flat. They are either fools or they’re sort of “Lord of the Rings”-filled with wisdom. They are not sexual, they are not romantic, they are not flawed. I love that about this character that Tom wrote and hopefully the way I played him has this stuff going on. He has romance, he has romantic feelings, he’s got anger, he’s got flaws.
I don’t like to do parts that are just because of my size. I like there to be more to the character than that. A sight gag doesn’t interest me. But it’s a matter of how much it beats the audience over the head and keeps reminding them of my size. I think the beauty of this movie is that it doesn’t. It just sort of falls away into the background. It becomes about these three characters and how they all share that loneliness in common. My dwarfism is just another facet of this character.
