Ed Sheeran to Try His Hand at Humor By Playing a Homeless Drug Addict

There’s something decidedly English about a multi-millionaire pop star dipping his toes into comedic acting by doing an impression of a poor person.

Four-time Grammy-winner Ed Sheeran will play a homeless crack addict in the British action-comedy film Sumotherhood, which is reportedly slated to premiere later this year. While this is not Sheeran’s first appearance in a comedy project — the singer/songwriter has appeared in The Simpsons and the rom-com Yesterday — Sumotherhood will be a rare instance of Sheeran appearing on screen as a character other than himself. 

Though few details have been released regarding Sumotherhood, it’s relieving to hear that Sheeran will play a part in a big-budget British project that has absolutely nothing to do with Game of Thrones.

“Ed plays this bloke who’s not got a home and looks like a crack addict,” an insider told The Sun. “The casting makes it an intriguing one and in particular, everyone wants to see Ed. He doesn’t have a massive part in the film, and although fans will recognise him straight away, they’ve never seen him looking like this.” The source also revealed that post-production work on Sumotherhood was almost complete and the producers hope to release the film before the year’s end.

Though Sheeran has never had an acting challenge quite like the role of a homeless drug addict, the pop star was presumably able to draw on past experiences playing a disheveled, unshaven character from those times he’s played himself.