After a cameo on Game of Thrones that the internet almost unanimously hated, Ed Sheeran quit Twitter. But the episode's director, Jeremy Podeswa, is staunchly defending the musician-turned-Lannister in a new interview with The Daily Beast.
"It is a funny thing because I really, genuinely believe that if you didn't know who he was, you would have just thought he was one of the gang, effortlessly," said Podeswa.
It's hard to disagree, because we do know who Ed Sheeran is. We've heard his singing voice—which was featured on the show—on the radio nonstop for the last year.
Sheeran's cameo was fairly quick, with few lines. He sung a song and sat next to Arya for a few minutes. But taking a massively famous top-40 artist and dressing him for a renaissance fair was a little distracting.
Podeswa disagrees, on the basis that all the actors on the show are famous.
"The truth is, everybody on the show is famous now," he said. "So it doesn't mean anything to me. It's about, are they appropriate for the role? Are they doing a good job? And it was yes, yes, yes to all those questions with him."
Whether or not Sheeran nailed the audition, isn't that sentiment a little unfair? Maisie Williams is famous, of course, but she's famous for playing Arya Stark. New fans reading A Song of Ice and Fire will see her face and hear her voice. She'll have trouble playing other roles since she's so closely associated with the character.
This is not the case for Ed Sheeran. You will not hear an Ed Sheeran song and think how weird it is for a Lannister bannerman to sing about lovers and clubs.
Could they have at least changed his hair?
No matter his famous voice and face, Podeswa defended Sheeran. "He is a lovely person," he said. "He's really down-to-earth. 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."
Too bad we do know he's an pop star. And the passionate defense by Podswa might indicate there's more Sheeran coming our way.
At this point, you can only hope fans get their wish:
Oh god, what if Ed Sheeran ends up on the iron throne?