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Game of Thrones was such a behemoth and unique cultural phenomenon that the heights it reached may never be seen by another TV show again. Just look at the viewership of its prequel series House of the Dragon compared to Thrones in its heyday.
Regardless of how you ultimately feel about the series’ infamous ending — to which I’ll say, if you get 90% of the answers on a test correct, that’s still an A — there’s no denying that Game of Thrones stands as one of the five most totemic series of the 21st century, up there with the likes of Breaking Bad, The Wire, The Sopranos, and Mad Men.
What made Thrones so different from those other Mount Rushmore series, however, is it was a fantasy series, filled with characters and places and animals (dragons) and ideas that let both the imagination run wild and the corporate entities sell merch. And when those things happen in concert — artistic merit, audience enthusiasm, and economic success — pieces of pop culture enter the zeitgeist and become ubiquitous in our consciousness.
And that’s got to be quite trippy! It’s what happened to the cast of Friends: one day they’re largely unknown TV actors, the next they’re in 50 million living rooms every week, making seven figures per episode. But, even still, there was something more overwhelming about Game of Thrones‘ sweeping popularity, as dogs were being named Phoebe long before Lisa Kudrow came along. Tyrion, however, is a name that only became recognized by the masses after Peter Dinklage brought the character into the world.
Speaking to BroBible’s Post Credit Podcast ahead of the release of his new comedy film Brothers alongside Josh Brolin — hitting Prime Video on Thursday, October 17 — Dinklage discussed the moment he realized Thrones was something different, sharing scenes with Frances McDormand in perhaps her most iconic performance, how he and Josh’s big heads lead to their new film, what happened to the high-concept star-vehicle studio comedy, and more. We also asked Peter which Game of Thrones scene pops up in his mind most often, so make sure to stick around for that answer,
Also make sure to check out our interview with Josh Brolin, where we discuss Brothers, realizing No Country for Old Men would be a modern classic, his reaction the first time he learned his character’s fate, Chigurh versus Alejandro (from Sicario), and more.
In addition to Dinklage and Brolin, Brothers, directed by Palm Springs filmmaker Max Barbakow, also stars Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei, Brendan Fraser, Taylour Paige, Jennifer Landon, and M. Emmet Walsh (in his final film role).