With his turn as Tyrion Lannister in the HBO series Game Of Thrones, Peter Dinklage became a star. His rambunctious and energetic depiction of an unforgettable character captured the imagination of the TV-watching public, his face and lines emblazoned on everything from T-shirts to bumper-stickers as he claimed the title of series MVP. What's surprising is that Dinklage was a seasoned performer well before Thrones' debut in 2011, with a hoard of TV, indie and studio titles to his name. Much of Dinklage's early work pivoted around his diminutive stature (4 foot and 5 inches), but as his skills became more widely tested, the roles started to expand. This week he's in UK theatres alongside Adam Sandler and Kevin James for the much-derided Pixels, the story of '80s video-game characters sent from above to wreck havoc on earth. Dinklage plays Sandler's childhood nemesis, in a part styled on King Of Kong's Billy Mitchell. The results are... well, you'll see. As with any actor who's been professionally active for two decades, not everything Dinklage touches turns to Thrones. He's worked with indie darling Thomas McCarthy, been involved with not one, but two family films centred around a dog and dipped his toes in the superhero mania that currently engulfs Hollywood. The results have been... let's say mixed.