Peter Dinklage On Being X-Men's Unlikely Villain

The charm, intelligence, mischief and presence Peter Dinklage brings to his performances aren't limited to the stage and screen. Holding court in a Melbourne hotel suite, he gets in a few sly digs at the room's interior design, suggesting that Scarface drug lord Tony Montana may have had a say in the glitzy decor, before getting down to the serious business of promoting his latest film, the superhero blockbuster X-Men: Days Of Future Past.

While he is of course famous for his acclaimed, award-winning portrayal of wily, embattled nobleman Tyrion Lannister on the hit pay TV series Game Of Thrones, Dinklage has a diverse array of characters in a variety of genres to his credit. But Days Of Future Past, which marks director Bryan Singer's return to the franchise's helm for the first time since 2003's X-Men 2, sees the actor trying his hand at villainy, somewhat new territory for him.

That said, Dinklage's Dr Bolivar Trask isn't some madman plotting world domination and destruction from a mountaintop lair. Rather, he's a renowned scientist whose plan to wipe out the world's 'mutant' population – including our heroes, such as Hugh Jackman's clawed brawler Wolverine – with an army of weaponised robots named Sentinels has the endorsement of the world's superpowers: something that makes him all the more threatening... and more plausible, according to Dinklage.

“Usually with the villain role in superhero movies they operate on the fringes, just as the superheroes do,” he says. “They're considered a bit mad, but this guy is right there with the politicians, seated right next to the president, and he's a big influence. Because that happens quite consistently – we had a few of those running for president recently in America, and thank God they didn't get any closer – that's scary stuff. But nothing really gives away his villainy until you grasp what he's proposing, which is mass genocide.”

More.