Peter Dinklage: Game of Thrones cast fear axe

Peter Dinklage admits filming ‘Game of Thrones’ in advance of the novels is "a bit scary".

The 46-year-old actor – who portrays Tyrion Lannister in the fantasy drama – and his castmates are concerned about their future on the show because at least in earlier seasons, they knew if their characters had a shelf-life thanks to George R.R. Martin’s book series, which hasn’t been updated since 2011’s ‘A Dance With Dragons’.

He said: "It’s a bit scary for the actors. Everyone before this knew when they were going to perish.

"Sean Bean knew he was going to die in Season 1. Richard Madden knew he was going to die in Season 3. But now literally no one knows."

And the actor joked he is doing his best to stay in showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ good books in order to retain his position on the programme.

He added: "Dave and Dan hold our future in their hands.

"You’ve got to keep Dave and Dan in their good graces [to stay on the show]. Wine and dine them, really."

But the producers have been given some guidelines, having held a week-long meeting with the author – who is currently working on sixth installment ‘The Winds of Winter’ – in 2013 which saw him share details of how he plans to end the saga.

They said in an email to Empire magazine: "We have some wild upcoming scenes based on information George gave us, and we have some other wild scenes that won’t be in the books.

"George is the sole master of the books, from which the series sprang, so his creative influence is everywhere."