Peter Dinklage on Cyrano, and Life After “Thrones”

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 December 2019

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the classic play “Cyrano de Bergerac,” a romantic with an exceptionally large and ugly nose pines after an unattainable woman. “As a person who looks like me, whenever I would watch a version of ‘Cyrano,’ I would just think, ‘That’s an actor in a fake nose,’ ” says Peter Dinklage. Dinklage, who has dwarfism, plays the character in a New Group adaptation by his wife, Erica Schmidt, with music by the National. But Dinklage avoids wearing a prosthetic, and he tells Michael Schulman that the nose isn’t really the point. The play is about “everyone’s capacity to not feel worthy of love.” To “Game of Thrones” fans who were devastated by the show’s ending, Dinklage has only tough love to offer. “They didn’t want it to end so a lot of people got angry. This happens.” He is not distraught about Daenerys, who turned out to be quite a brutal ruler. “Monsters are created. We vote them into office. . . . Maybe [fans] should have waited for the series finale before you get that tattoo, or name your golden retriever Daenerys. I can’t help you.” Plus, every year, countless poor spellers accidentally address their Santa letters to Satan. Satan—played by Kathleen Turner—always replies.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From One World Trade Center in Manhattan, this is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:11.6	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
0:14.7	Because this is the season, we're going to start with a little story, a Christmas story.
0:20.2	And here's Kathleen Turner, in children's holiday letters to Satan.
0:26.0	Dear Satan, what I really want this year more than anything is a Barbie dream house.
0:33.1	It's pretty and pink, and I will keep it in my room near my bed.
0:37.1	Merry Christmas, Allison, age six.
0:44.0	Allison,
0:50.2	Huh.
0:51.5	I see what you've done here.
0:53.9	You intend it for your letter to go to Santa, but due to your poor grasp of spelling, it has instead come to me.
1:05.4	It really should go without saying, but I will not be getting you this so-called dream house because...
1:14.6	Well, because I do not want to.
1:18.9	But I will suggest this. Buy it yourself.
1:23.3	Simply take $2 from your mom's wallet every day,
1:32.7	and soon enough, you'll have your useless and silly miniature house.
1:35.5	Regards, Satan.
1:40.4	Dear Satan, I am Daniel and I love you. I want an Xbox for Christmas.
1:43.8	Daniel age nine. Dear Daniel, am I getting your name
1:49.6	right? You only mentioned it twice in your ten-word letter. I've wasted five minutes of my life
1:57.2	Googling this Xbox, and I suppose I'm left with one question. Why? This game,
2:06.6	Grand Theft Auto. Indeed, seems quite fun. But why waste your day sitting in front of the TV
	...

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