Peter Dinklage responds to whitewashing claims in new film 'My Dinner with Herve'

"Game of Thrones" star Peter Dinklage has responded to the whitewashing allegations over his casting in "My Dinner With Herve".

The HBO film, directed by Sacha Gervasi, is about Herve Villechaize during what end up being his final days, as he unexpectedly bonds with a journalist sent to interview him.

Herve is best known for his roles in "Fantasy Island" and "The Man With the Golden Gun".

Dinklage's casting attracted criticism and many called it a case of "whitewashing" since Herve was half-French and half-Filipino.

Dinklage, 49, said people are not properly informed about Herve and claimed that he was not "half-Filipino".

"I'm glad you brought that up. The internet is the best thing and the worst thing. The funny thing about the backlash is it addresses what we address in the film about not judging a book by its cover. Herve was judged by how he looked, and cast and perceived to be who he is accordingly," he said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

 

"It says (Villechiaze was half-Filipino) on Wikipedia. Family members can't change information on there. My daughter's name was 'Zelig' on Wikipedia for a long time. Her name is not Zelig. I don't know who is able to put information up, but there are so many things on there that aren't true," he added.

The actor also said that Herve was actually French and of German and English descent, and that people were commenting without the proper information.

"There's this term 'whitewashing'. I completely understand that. But Herve wasn't Filipino. Dwarfism manifests physically in many different ways. I have a very different type of dwarfism than Herve had. I've met his brother and other members of his family. He was French, and of German and English descent. So it's strange these people are saying he's Filipino," he said.

"They kind of don't have any information. I don't want to step on anybody's toes or sense of justice because I feel the exact same way when there's some weird racial profile. But these people think they're doing the right thing politically and morally and it's actually getting flipped because what they're doing is judging and assuming what he is ethnically based on his looks alone," he added.