Peter Dinklage Remembers How Charles Dance Used to Console Him ‘Between Every Take’ on ‘Game of Thrones’

It may be many years since Peter Dinklage performed opposite Charles Dance on “Games of Thrones,” but the actor still holds a special place in his heart for his cruel on-screen father. While speaking with Sean Evan during an interview on “Hot Ones,” Dinklage reflected on his relationship with the esteemed British actor and their fondness for one another despite the animosity they shared as Tyrion and Tywin Lannister.

“I love Charlie Dance,” Dinklage said in between munching on hot wings. “He’s one of my favorite human beings and he played my father on the show and all my father did on the show was humiliate me and sent me sentence me to death —  spoiler alert for those three people who haven’t seen the show —  so he made a habit of — cause we would get really invested in those things cause talk about great dialogue, Dan Weiss and David Benioff wrote, gave us the greatest dialogue, so it really felt really lived in and fun and scary at times — so he would just like, between every take, he would come over and just gently touch me on the shoulder.”

It was a small gesture, but one that let Dinklage know that Dance held real affection for him. 

“We wouldn’t hug it out we because we had no time, but he would always make a point to just give me a little [*gestures reaching out*] and it felt very paternal too,” he said.

On “Games of Thrones,” the relationship between Dance’s Tywin and Dinklage’s Tyrion was always tumultuous, as Tywin always resented Tyrion for being born a dwarf and killing his mother in childbirth. He would later be involved in framing Tyrion for the murder of King Joffrey Baratheon, Tywin’s grandson, but Tyrion ultimately got the upper-hand on him, shooting his father dead with a crossbow while he sat on the toilet.

“He played a horrible human being,” Dinklage said of Dance, “but he’s one of my favorite human beings and it was a shame how that one ended. On the toilet, kind of like how this is going to end, but yeah that’s one of the more classic death scenes in a TV show I think.”

Watch Dinklage’s full “Hot Ones” interview below.