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Movies & TV

18th Sep 2018

Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage was heartbroken to leave Ireland after the show stopped filming

Paul Moore

Game of Thrones Ireland

He drinks and he knows things. Yep, Tyrion is definitely Irish.

In terms of personal accolades, Peter Dinklage is ruling the Seven Kingdoms because the Game of Thrones star picked up his third win at the most recent Emmy Awards.

For many fans of the show , Tyrion will always be their favourite character because the youngest Lannister is complex, cunning and utterly hilarious.

In fact, one of the weaknesses of the most recent episodes has been the fact that Dinklage’s character has almost been ‘sidelined’ but it’s a mark of his skill that he’s still winning awards and acclaim.

Hell, wouldn’t Westeros be a better place if Tyrion ended up on the Iron Throne – after all, he is Kit Harington’s personal choice to rule.

Truth be told, that entire scene where he demands a trial by combat still gives us goosebumps and after winning the award for Best Supporting Actor, Dinklage spoke to the press about his final day on the set of Game of Thrones.

In a very gracious moment, he took the time to pay tribute to the friends, memories and ties that he has with Ireland.

Of course, Dinklage would have spent an awful lot of time in Belfast and Banbridge over the eight seasons of the show and it’s clear that he cherishes this experience.

“It was very sad. This is not only a great TV show to be a part of, but it was an enormous family to be a part of,” he said.

He adds: “I’m sure you’ve heard that before from actors but in this case I was far from home; I live in New York and we shot the show in Europe, so many times I had to stay there and couldn’t go home on the weekends and really developed deep roots in the community of Ireland and some of the other countries we shot in. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to because it wasn’t just saying goodbye to the show, I was saying goodbye to a life over there.”

With Season 8 of the world’s most beloved show set to air in 2019, we’re certain that Dinklage will deliver another incredible performance.

Here’s his speech in full.