The latest cameo of famous British pop singer Ed Sheeran drew criticisms on the Internet and the director of "Game of Thrones" had come to defend him.
The "Game of Thrones" season 7 episode 1 director, Jeremy Podeswa defended the "Shape of You" singer's cameo in the HBO series against people who was not pleased and satisfied with Sheeran appearing as one of the Lannister's soldiers in a scene with Arya Stark.
"I think Ed did a lovely job - he's a lovely actor and a lovely person," Podeswa said to Newsweek."He was appropriate for the part because he needed to sing. If people didn't know who Ed was, they wouldn't have thought about it twice. The hoo-ha seems to be from things that are outside of the world of the show. In the world of the show he did a lovely job, and he looks like he belongs in that world."
While some fans adored the singer's short appearance on the famous series, some went so far as to wishing death upon his character. But, the director blames the backlash over the viewer's focus on Ed Sheeran's celebrity status.
"I think people interrogated it too much, they're bringing so much of his [superstar] presence into the thing which is far beyond what anybody was thinking going into it," he said. "As everybody knows, the show really eschews stunt casting - it's never, ever done that."
Entertainment Weekly also noted that it was not the first time that "Game of Thrones" has invited a musician in the show. To recall, Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol, Will Champion from Coldplay, Sigur Ros and Mastodon have appeared on the previous episodes.
"I was quite surprised about the reaction actually because I know he's very well-known and a successful singer but you're in the bubble of the show - the cast are well-known too, everybody is really well-known," Podeswa added. "None of them can walk down the street without being followed. You don't think about that very much in this context."
With the backlash, Ed Sheeran reportedly deactivated his Twitter account on July 18 after he received negative comments; but, he quickly reactivated it after few hours.
*SPOILER ALERT*
“That’s a pretty song. I’ve never heard it before.”
Watch @EdSheeran in the premiere episode of #GoTS7. pic.twitter.com/YbADfWqng1— Game Of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) July 18, 2017
Big up @maisie_williams A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos) on Jul 18, 2017 at 12:53pm PDT
