Ed Sheeran appearing in a small cameo on Game of Thrones was meant to be a surprise for a dear friend. It ended with him getting mercilessly roasted by fans.
The Grammy-winning singer (and occasional actor) dropped by the Armchair Expert podcast for Monday’s episode where he talked about how fun it was to appear in the HBO cultural staple series — and the daggers afterward.
“It was great,” he said of the day’s shoot. Not so great, the reaction to his cameo. “I feel like people’s reaction to it sort of muddied my joy to it,” he admitted.
Sheeran explained to hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman that he was a massive fan of the series and wanted a cameo if possible, but he was actually asked to be on as a surprise to Maisie Williams. At the time, the plan was to kill off Williams’ character, Arya Stark, that season. But the surprise was accidentally ruined by Sophie Turner, who mentioned Sheeran’s involvement at a convention, to Williams’ shock.
“She’s always been awesome,” Sheeran said of his friend Williams. “I don’t think they had written the ending yet. It was meant to be her last season, but it wasn’t. And as a surprise for her, [they got] me on. So, she was meant to turn up on set and I was by the fire.”
Sheeran cameoed as a Lannister soldier in the first episode of the seventh season, titled “Dragonstone.” He and Williams shared a short scene around a campfire.
