After his cameo appearance in ‘Game Of Thrones’ this weekend that sharply divided viewers on social media, the show’s director has come to Ed Sheeran’s defence saying that the singer is a “lovely performer” who “deserved to be there”.
In fact, the reaction was such that 26 year old Sheeran quit Twitter altogether in the wake of the season premiere of the seventh series of ‘Game of Thrones’ on Sunday night (July 16th). However, the HBO fantasy show’s director, Jeremy Podeswa, has told The Daily Beast in a new interview that he felt Sheeran’s appearance was appropriate.
Podeswa admitted he was “a bit surprised that people have made that much fuss about it… he looks right in the show; he fits into the fabric of the show.”
Ed Sheeran’s cameo in ‘Game of Thrones’ divided fans sharply
Indeed, Sheeran has had some experience with movies and television before, indeed with the medieval fantasy genre itself having appeared in a handful of episodes of ‘The Bastard Executioner’ back in 2015. He also starred as himself in Bridget Jones’s Baby last year.
Dressed in a cape and armour for the curtain-raiser, Sheeran played a musician upon whom Maisie Williams’ character Arya Stark encounters in a forest – he played a short campfire song and shared some blackberry wine with her.
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“They will hopefully rectify that by having Arya skewer him,” one person said via social media after Sunday’s airing, while another called it a “really awful, unnecessary cameo”.
Furthermore, it’s not as if ‘Game of Thrones’ hasn’t previously featured musical guests. Icelandic dream-rock giants Sigur Ros appeared as a wedding band, Wilko Johnson played an executioner, and members of Coldplay and Snow Patrol have had cameos.
“If you didn’t know that he was a pop star or an entertainer of any kind, you would think he’s just one of the guys,” Podeswa continued about the Sheeran controversy. “He’s been acting for a little while; he takes it very seriously.”
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