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Ed Sheeran Lands ‘Game Of Thrones’ Role: Fans React To Surprising Season 7 Cameo

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 23:48 PST, Mar 12, 2017

Ed Sheeran has had a big year, and it’s about to get even bigger. The 26-year-old Grammy-winning singer-songwriter will make a guest appearance on the upcoming seventh season of Game of Thrones. Sheeran’s role has not yet been announced, but fans are freaking out over the fact that he will guest star on the epic HBO fantasy drama.

Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss revealed the Ed Sheeran casting news at a SXSW panel over the weekend, according to the Hollywood Reporter. GoT star Maisie Williams (Arya Stark on the HBO hit) is an Ed Sheeran superfan, so fans can thank her for the singer’s unlikely guest role. Ed and Maisie are close friends and have been photographed together many times in recent months.

“For years, we tried to get Ed Sheeran on the show to surprise Maisie, and this year we finally did it,” Benioff told reporters.

Sheeran confirmed the casting news on social media, writing, “Guess the cat’s out of the bag.”

https://twitter.com/edsheeran/status/841052936293752832

Ed Sheeran is not the first music superstar to guest star on Game of Thrones. Past seasons of the HBO drama have included cameos by Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, Coldplay’s Will Champion, Sigur Rós, and Mastodon. Showrunner D.B. Weiss said he often warns musicians that a GoT cameo is a major time commitment.

“A lot of [music artists] say they would they would like to [be on the show], and then we tell them [shooting a scene] is so boring,” Weiss said, according to Entertainment Weekly. “‘You’re gonna hate this — you’re going to be sitting around three days for 12 hours a day.'”

Back in Season 3, Sigur Rós lead singer Jonsi Birgisson was reportedly ready to leave the set after he shot his close-up scene during Joffrey’s wedding and didn’t realize he was required to remain on set as a background actor for several more days.

Ed Sheeran’s music career recently hit a high note when his latest album, Divide, hit it big on the Billboard 200. But Ed also has a bit of an acting resume. According to IMDB, Sheeran played himself on the TV series Undateable and in the movie Bridget Jones’s Baby, and he also had a recurring role as Sir Cormac on Kurt Sutter’s FX drama The Bastard Executioner.

In a 2015 interview with Access Hollywood, Sheeran revealed that he enjoys acting, but admitted he sometimes has trouble remembering his lines.

“It’s a weird thing to be a songwriter whose main job is remembering lines, but I spent a week learning the [Bastard Executioner] script and then the line would come to me and …my mind would just go blank,” Ed told Access.

Sheeran said he asked producers to be patient with him as he learned the ropes. Ed went on to say he didn’t “really see himself” as an actor in the future, and he joked about celebrities who try to do it all.

“The thing I hate most when I meet people is their like, ‘I’m like an actress/musician/model/businessman/tech. And you’re like, ‘Choose one.’ Choose one and do it well.”

Ed Sheeran clearly had a change of tune, though. Ed’s GoT casting news had mixed reaction from fans, with some warning him to avoid going to any “weddings” while he’s on the show. Others think Ed should stick to singing.

https://twitter.com/UsefulAmy/status/841055604512829442

https://twitter.com/hiddlesxlwt/status/841052854819393536

Ed Sheeran is not the only new face on Game of Thrones Season 7. The upcoming season will also feature English actor Jim Broadbent, who will play a maester of the Citadel at Oldtown.

Days before Ed Sheeran’s Game of Thrones casting news was announced, 160,000 fans of the HBO series watched ice melt in an ill-received Facebook Live stunt as they awaited the reveal of the show’s July 16 premiere date. The social media snafu got a chilly reception, but fans have definitely warmed up to the idea of seeing Ed Sheeran to the show.

Take a look at the video below to see Ed Sheeran showing off is acting chops.

[Featured Image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images]

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