How Ed Sheeran got on Game of Thrones

Remember when Ed Sheeran had a cameo on Game of Thrones and a bunch of people freaked out? The episode director breaks it down:

In the season 7 premiere of Game of Thrones, there’s a short scene where Arya Stark hangs out with some Lannister soldiers on her way to King’s Landing. It’s a good scene. It establishes where Arya is headed, reconnects us with her humanity after she’d spent a few seasons turning into a cold-blooded killer, and underscored that in this war between Great Houses, it’s the ordinary grunts who get hurt the most.

But it also featured pop star Ed Sheeran, which was all anyone focused on afterwards. By and large, they were not pleased.

Speaking to author James Hibberd for his new book Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series, episode director Jeremy Podeswa remembers how this cameo came about. “One thing that Game of Thrones never did was stunt casting,” he said. “Everybody in the world wanted to be on Game of Thrones, and [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] never rose to that bait. With Ed Sheeran, it didn’t feel like a weird thing to anybody on the show because Maisie [Williams, who plays Arya Stark] knew him, he’s in the UK, we needed somebody who could sing, it was a small part, and he had acted before.”

"Then when he got there he was the loveliest, most grounded guy you could ever meet. It was really cold, and we were out in the wilderness all day long. He didn’t run back to his trailer. He sat down with all the extras playing the Lannister army and was happy to be there. And he did a lovely job. If he wasn’t Ed Sheeran, pop star, nobody would have ever batted an eye at the person playing that role."

It’s true that Game of Thrones didn’t have much in the way of stunt-casting. It had on some big-name actors over the years — Ian McShane as Brother Ray, Jim Broadbent as Archmaester Ebrose, and Sean Bean as Ned Stark — but they were there for their acting abilities first and foremost, not because they were famous.

The show did, however, feature a fair number of famous folks in background parts, but you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking for them. Coldplay drummer Will Champion is in the Frey band during the Red Wedding, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Rob McElhenney was a Greyjoy soldier, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers ran for his life as Daenerys torched King’s Landing, and so on.

Sheeran was the one time when the show had on someone who was: A) a proper celebrity, and; B) actually had some lines, although not many. I agree with Podeswa that the blowback was quite silly.

Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon is available to buy now!

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h/t Looper