Dinklage has a form of dwarfism, achondroplasia, which affects bone growth. As a result, he is tall, with an average-sized head and torso but shorter than average limbs. While Dinklage has come to accept his condition, he sometimes found it challenging when growing up. In 2003, he said that when he was younger he was often angry and bitter about his condition, but as he got older, he realized that he "just ha to have a sense of humor," to know "that it's not your problem. It's theirs." When asked in 2012 whether he saw himself as "a spokesman for the rights of little people," Dinklage responded: "I don't know what I would say. Everyone's different. Every person my size has a different life, a different history. Different ways of dealing with it. Just because I'm seemingly okay with it, I can't preach how to be okay with it." Despite his own sentiment about the matter, Dinklage has been viewed as a role model for people sharing his condition.