His other films include Elf (2003), Lassie and The Baxter (both in 2005), Find Me Guilty (2006), Penelope (2006), Death at a Funeral (2007), The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008), Death at a Funeral (2010), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023), and Wicked (2024).

[11] Jonathan graduated from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and served as violinist and concertmaster for the musical Hamilton.

[18] Dinklage initially struggled to find acting work, partially because he refused to take the roles typically offered to actors with his condition, such as "elves or leprechauns".

[12] He had a credited film debut in the low-budget independent comedy-drama Living in Oblivion (1995), where he starred alongside Steve Buscemi.

"[12] Dinklage found his breakthrough playing Finbar McBride, who is a quiet, withdrawn, unmarried man in the 2003 Tom McCarthy-directed film The Station Agent.

What attracted him to the character McCarthy had written was that it was not one of the stereotypical roles people with dwarfism play; rather, McBride has "romantic feelings" as well as "anger and ...

[22][23] In the New York Observer, reviewer Andrew Sarris wrote, "Dinklage projects both size and intelligence in the fascinating reticence of his face.

"[24] Besides being Dinklage's highest-rated film on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes,[25] The Station Agent was modestly successful at the box office, earning over $8 million against its small budget.

[31] In 2005, he starred in the short-lived CBS science fiction series Threshold and appeared as a wedding planner in the comedy film The Baxter.

The film tells the true story of the longest Mafia trial in American history; Dinklage played Ben Klandis, the lead defense attorney.

[36][37] Writing for Chicago Sun-Times, film critic Roger Ebert praised Dinklage's performance, saying that the character he plays stands apart as "concise, articulate and professional.

[52] Between 2011 and 2019, Dinklage portrayed Tyrion Lannister in HBO's fantasy drama Game of Thrones, an adaptation of author George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels.

[56] Showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss noted that Dinklage, whom they described as funny, smart and witty, was their first choice for the role, as the actor's "core of humanity, covered by a shell of sardonic dry wit, is pretty well in keeping with the character.

"[12] Unfamiliar with the source material, Dinklage was cautious in his first meeting with the producers; as a dwarf, "he wouldn't play elves or leprechauns" and was choosy about genre roles.

Benioff and Weiss told Dinklage that the character was "a different kind of fantasy little person," or in the actor's words, "No beard, no pointy shoes, a romantic, real human being.

[72][73] In 2014, Dinklage starred in the comedy horror film Knights of Badassdom opposite Ryan Kwanten and Steve Zahn.

The film is about three best friends that go to the woods and reenact a live action Dungeons & Dragons role play, when they mistakenly conjure up a demon from Hell.

[75] In preparation for his role, Dinklage stated that he did not want to approach the character necessarily as a villain, saying that Trask "actually sees what he's doing as a good thing.

[79] In 2015, Dinklage starred in the science fiction comedy film Pixels as a former arcade champion named Eddie Plant.

[83] In 2016, Dinklage provided the voice of The Mighty Eagle in The Angry Birds Movie,[84] and recorded a song for the musical's soundtrack.

[citation needed] Dinklage appeared in the 2018 Marvel Studios film Avengers: Infinity War as the character Eitri, a giant dwarf.

[105] The film, directed by Max Barbakow with a screenplay by Macon Blair from a story by Etan Cohen, is slated to be released in October 2024.

[106] In 2020, Dinklage portrayed the pirate Fannybaws in the music video of the same name from Scottish power metal band Alestorm.

His performance was praised, with Tony Sokol favorably comparing his character to Russian mobsters in other media, including Training Day and Orange is the New Black.

[109] In 2024, Dinklage was announced to voice Dr. Dillamond in the two-part film adaptation of the musical, Wicked,[110] alongside a cast including Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

[116] Dinklage will voice Hercule Poirot in an upcoming Audible adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

[126] He appeared in a PETA campaign, asking Game of Thrones fans to adopt pets from shelters rather than buying huskies that might look like direwolves.

[128] In 2017, Dinklage attended the Women's March demonstration in Park City, Utah to advocate legislation and policies regarding human rights and other issues.

He later explained that 20 years earlier he might have accepted the offers, but that he was "a little bit more at peace with things now", and "I said what I wanted to say… I have a friend who says the world doesn't need another angry dwarf.

[137] According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Dinklage's most critically acclaimed films are Living in Oblivion (1995), The Station Agent (2003), Lassie (2005), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).