Peter Dinklage's Best Comedy Performances

Tomorrow night Peter Dinklage, the breakout star of Game of Thrones, will host Saturday Night Live for the first time.  First timers typically don't get as much to do as the more experienced hosts like Alec Baldwin and Melissa McCarthy but Dinklage will probably excel with what he has, as he usually does.  His Thrones character Tyrion Lannister became a fan favorite of the fantasy epic largely through his sharp wit, but for the most part it is a dramatic role.  There are plenty of other performances that better showcase Dinklage's comedic prowess, starting with a guest appearance on a McCarthy hosted episode of SNL from 2013.  I present to you, Peter Drunklage.

Elf

In 2003 director Jon Favreau did the impossible by crafting a new Christmas classic.  Elf was also a highlight of Will Ferrell's early career, portraying not a drunken buffoon but an endearingly child like and kindhearted buffoon.  Ferrell played a human who was raised in the North Pole as an elf and made his return to the unmagical world of New York City in search of his birth father, played by James Caan.  He found him as a heartless cog in a children's book producing corporate machine.  That's where Dinklage comes in.  He played a celebrated children's author with a coarse disposition by the name of Miles Finch doing a favor for Caan's character.  Ferrell's Buddy barged into a conference room to find Finch and earnestly believed him to be a transplant from Santa's workshop.  Finch does not take it well.  His pure rage could rival that of Tyrion Lannister or any other resident of Westeros.  It provides a stark contrast to Ferrell's naive enthusiasm creating one of the most memorable moments from a perennial standard.

Seinfeld - "The Wink"

One of Dinklage's first roles was in an episode of Seinfeld, although his face never appeared on the iconic sitcom.  He provided the voice behind Elaine Benes's wake up service, a man named James.  When the character appeared on screen for his date with Elaine he was played by Brian McNamara but she wouldn't have been there if Dinklage's dulcet voice hadn't seduced her in the first place.  It takes a lot of guts to hit on someone first thing in the morning and even more charm to pull it off.

Especially since Elaine isn't exactly a morning person.

By borrowing Dinklage's golden vocal chords James easily manages to win over Elaine and has his most memorable scene in the episode.

30 Rock - "Señor Macho Solo"

Tina Fey and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss have a lot in common, as they explained at the 2007 Emmys.  Peter Dinklage is one of the fortunate few, if not the only one, who has been romantically involved with both of their most famous characters.  Almost fifteen years after phone-flirting with Louis-Dreyfuss's Elaine he dated Fey's Liz Lemon in person.  Unfortunately it was another case of dwarfism being mistaken for something else.  Season three of 30 Rock saw Liz taking a more active interest in settling down and starting a family.  Her preoccupation with children led her to toussle the hair of what appeared from behind to be a child but was actually a suave United Nations employee named Stewart LaGrange.  To hide her faux pas Liz let Stewart believe that she was hitting on him and he proceeded to charm her as Dinklage is wont to do.  Eventually he realized the truth and their affair ended much as it began.

It's the kind of role Dinklage really excels at, where his dwarfism is a part of the character but not definitively and those who fail to realize that wind up looking like dummies, in some cases dead dummies.  Likewise, it would be ill advised to underestimate Peter Dinklage when he's on the SNL stage.