Is Warwick Davis plotting against Peter Dinklage? Once upon a time if a character in a movie was a dwarf or a halfling or a midget or even just a tiny monster, Davis was the guy who got the call. Now it’s all about Dinklage. Actually, this is not a bad idea for a movie – a bitter and deadly professional rivalry between dwarf peformers, each angling for the rare dwarf role with substance.
This round goes to The Dink, as he has signed on to appear in the next Narnia movie, Prince Caspian. He’s playing Trumpkin the Dwarf (Jesus, it must be tough retaining dignity while being a vertically challenged actor*), and he’s just part of a Narnian casting explosion.
Yesterday we told you about Ben Barnes, contract breaker, playing Caspian. Along with The Dink, Vincent Grass – a European actor who has done a couple of those Sharpe movies with Sean Bean – is onboard to play Doctor Cornelius, Prince Caspian’s mentor and hopefully a great big orangutan. Spanish actress Alicia Borrachero has been added to the cast as Prunaprismia, wife of the evil Miraz, who has wrested control of Narnia from the rightful heir Prince Caspian.
Shooting begins next week in New Zealand. I have begun praying for a set visit already.
* I have been slogging through A Game of Thrones, George RR Martin’s fantasy novel that has been optioned as an HBO series, and the character of Tyrion Lannister is ideal for Dinklage. In many ways he’s similar to the character The Dink played on the short-lived show Threshold – a drunk, a gambler and a whoremonger. Sadly, Martin is such a shitty writer that every time Tyrion shows up we have to be reminded of his thoughts on being a dwarf, or different in some way. Again and again. And I am only 300 or so pages into this multi-book series.