'Narnia' makeup can't hide a big talent

Peter Dinklage is an outsized talent in a compact package. The actor, who stands about 4 feet 5 inches, has made a big impression with appearances as a blackmailer in "Death at a Funeral," a bitter loner in "The Station Agent" and an evil scientist in "Underdog." His presence is so compelling onscreen that after a few moments it's irrelevant that the 38-year-old Dinklage has achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism.

For his role as Trumpkin the Red Dwarf in "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," Dinklage spent three hours every morning in the makeup chair, being outfitted with a bulbous nose and long whiskers made of yak hair.

Even beneath those layers of cosmetics, Dinklage delivers a vivid performance, snapping looks of annoyance, skepticism and impatience with his blazing blue eyes and growling his lines in a deadpan, masculine rumble.

He didn't work extra hard to project, he said. "I do the same kind of scene every time I go out there," he said. "I'd never been under that much makeup before and I just think it does a lot of the work for you. The makeup people just completely transformed me. It's really a thrill because part of you can rely on being hidden underneath all that makeup."

Dinklage took some hints about acting through gnarly latex from costar Warwick Davis, a veteran of "Harry Potter," "Star Wars" and "Leprechaun" movies.

"He's done so much of this stuff. This is old hat to him. I was the newbie so I definitely looked to him for patience. Being under all that makeup can be a little tedious at times on these long shoots. On hot days your nose starts falling off. Things start going awry, and if things start getting the better of you it can be extremely frustrating. He was extremely patient and understanding as an actor and a person, and it was great to get to know him."

And in his sword-swinging battle scenes, he proves that his stature is irrelevant.

"It was so much fun," he crowed in a phone interview. "When you're in a fantasy movie with a sword, it's great. Allan Poppleton, our fight coordinator, did 'The Lord of the Rings.' Our stuntmen were these big, hulking guys and their greatest fear in fighting you is hurting you. And I was even more fearful of slapping them in the head with my sword. Which happened a few times!"

A veteran off-Broadway performer, Dinklage will next appear onstage this summer in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" at the Bard Summerscape Theater in upstate New York. Then he'll fit in a couple of independent films before returning to New Zealand for the next "Narnia" film.

"We start shooting in October. It'll be good to get the beard on again," he said.

Colin Covert • 612-673-7186