In the comics on which the upcoming film X-Men: Days of Future Past was based, it was an industrialist named Bolivar Trask who was responsible for the building of the Sentinels, the army of giant robots created solely to capture and eliminate all mutants. As a result of this work, the mutants in the stories and comic book readers alike typically see the inventor as a pretty horrible villain whose prejudices and ignorance resulted in an incredible amount of bloodshed and death. When approaching his portrayal of Trask in Bryan Singer's new film, however, Peter Dinklage adopted a much different perspective on the character.
“I didn’t want to play the villain,” Dinklage recently told Entertainment Weekly when asked about his role in the new X-Men film. Rather than seeing Trask as a man who is out to hurt people and cause massive destruction, the actor says that his vision of the character is as a man who simply believes in his work. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have some serious flaws. “He’s a man of science. He’s a man of invention. He actually sees what he’s doing as a good thing — [his ambition is] definitely blind and he’s quite arrogant. He’s strove all his life for a certain respect and attention.”
In addition to his description of his approach to Trask, the Game of Thrones star also did his part in the interview to explain how his character fits into the movie's two-sided timeline: one set in a near apocalyptic future and the other back in 1973. Like James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and the other returning stars of X-Men: First Class, Dinklage will be in the Vietnam Era half of the tale. What's more, according to the actor, he will be butting heads with one of the nation's most notorious presidents. "He’s up against Richard Nixon,” Dinklage said. “He’s got some hurdles."
A cross between both the original X-Men trilogy and the aforementioned First Class, the new film begins in a horrible future where Sentinels have managed to nearly eliminate all of their mutant targets. In order to try and stop the Sentinels from ever being created, the X-Men use Kitty Pryde's powers to send Wolverine's consciousness back in time to meet up with the X-Men of the early 1970s. In addition to all of the aforementioned actors the movie also stars Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sir Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Ellen Page, Daniel Cudmore, Adam Canto, Omar Sy, Booboo Stewart, Evan Peters, Josh Helman, and Fan Bing Bing. Look for X-Men: Days of Future Past in theaters on May 23, 2014.
And now for a quick taste of Dinklage's Bolivar Trask in action...
