Video: Peter Dinklage Discusses Challenges of Live Shakespeare
Shakespeare in the Park's Twelfth Night will run August 7 through September 14, 2025.
By: Josh Sharpe Jul. 22, 2025
Amid rehearsals for Twelfth Night at Shakespeare in the Park, Peter Dinklage visited Late Night with Seth Meyers to discuss the new production, along with his role in the new series Dexter: Resurrection.
During the interview, he recalled his early theatrical experiences in New York City, fresh from college, including the time he saw Christopher Walken play Iago in Othello. "He was entirely in leather. And it's hot in New York in the summer!"
Though Dinklage recently appeared in a film version of King Lear with Al Pacino- which, he admits, "doesn't really feel like theater" - this is his first time performing Shakespeare live onstage since 2004. Even as a seasoned actor, he shared that he has constant nerves about the show.
"You can't riff. You can't improv," he said, of the text. "As soon as you derail from what [Shakespeare] gave us, it just sounds so wrong that you're like 'Oh, no wonder he's the master, because he is.'" Check out the full interview, where he also talks about some of the surprising words that Shakespeare created.
The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is set to open the newly renovated Delacorte Theater this August. The production will officially open on Thursday, August 21, and run through Sunday, September 14 and is directed by The Public’s Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director and Tony Award nominee Saheem Ali. It was recently announced that the production will be filmed for PBS and air this November.
The audience favorite follows the romantic misadventures of shipwrecked twins and stars Dario Alvarez (Ensemble), b (Antonio), John Ellison Conlee (Sir Toby Belch), Khris Davis (Orsino), Peter Dinklage (Malvolio), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Andrew Aguecheek), Jaina Rose Jallow (Ensemble), Ariyan Kassam (Curio/Ensemble), Valentino Musumeci (Ensemble), Junior Nyong'o (Sebastian), Lupita Nyong'o (Viola), Chinna Palmer (Ensemble), Sandra Oh (Olivia), Precious Omigie (Ensemble), Nathan M. Ramsey (Ensemble), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Maria), Jasmine Sharma (Ensemble), Moses Sumney (Feste), Kapil Talwakar (Ensemble), Joe Tapper (Sea Captain/Priest), Julian Tushabe (Ensemble), Adrian Villegas (Ensemble), Ada Westfall (Ensemble), and Mia Wurgaft (Ensemble). Check out rehearsal photos here.
