Peter Dinklage Surprisingly Defended ‘Tiptoes,’ Saying Gary Oldman ‘Can Do Whatever He Wants’
Peter Dinklage was a star long before his beloved role on Game of Thrones. His time in Westeros just elevated him to a level of superstardom few reach. Dinklage’s name and face are instantly recognizable, and he has his pick of great parts, something that wasn’t always an option for him.
Dinklage was born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism that impedes bone growth. As a result, Dinklage stands at 4 feet 5 inches tall. In the past, a successful acting career for someone with achondroplasia would’ve been a non-starter. But Dinklage is incredibly talented, and maybe the time was just right for the tables to turn.
Still, there are a lot of terrible representations of little people out there. Dinklage himself acted in Tiptoes, a movie which is almost certainly one of them. The Cyrano actor defended the movie, however, explaining how the production process revised the film into the awfulness it is today.
‘Tiptoes’ is one of the worst movies of all time
In a movie about little people featuring Dinklage as the only little person in the main cast, most people would expect Dinklage to play the starring role. Unfortunately, that’s not the case in Tiptoes. Dinklage plays the best friend of Gary Oldman’s character, who was also a little person in the movie. This was accomplished by Oldman walking on his knees for most of the film. Unfortunately, we’re not kidding.
Tiptoes was originally supposed to shed light on the problems little people face in the world. But the 2003 film may have made things worse. To be fair, the movie went through a re-cut that did not involve the director. Dinklage says the film was much better before this re-cut. Still, what the world knows today as Tiptoes is a veritable disaster.
Peter Dinklage claims Gary Oldman walking on his knees in ‘Tiptoes’ is fine by him
Dinklage spoke to the New York Times in 2012 and defended Tiptoes. According to Dinklage, the movie was a much different film when director Matthew Bright was involved. “It was sort of an amazing idea for a movie, but the result [of the new cut] was what we were fighting against — the cutesiness of little people.”
Although Dinklage says the movie was much better in its original form, he does admit there was a problem with Oldman walking on his knees for the whole movie. But Dinklage can forgive him and thinks that other viewers should too. After all, Oldman is a Hollywood legend.
“‘Why would you put Gary Oldman on his knees? That’s almost like blackface.’ And I have my own opinions about political correctness, but I was just like: ‘It’s Gary Oldman. He can do whatever he wants.'”
Dinklage recently criticized Disney for its ‘Snow White’ remake
Dinklage is careful when he speaks about being a little person. He doesn’t want to be the spokesperson for little people everywhere. That’s just not his goal. He’s an actor, first and foremost, as he explained to the New York Times.
But Dinklage can’t always ignore the fact that he is a little person in a world that still doesn’t really acknowledge their struggles. According to NBC News, Dinklage recently spoke to Marc Maron on his WTF podcast, and talked about something that’s bothering him.
Disney is remaking Snow White and the Seven Dwarves into a live-action movie. They cast Latina actress Rachel Zegler as Snow White, which Dinklage applauds. But he doesn’t understand why Disney needs to make a movie with dwarves in roles that may not portray them in a good light. According to Dinklage, “They were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White. But you’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there, you know? It makes no sense to me.”
