No more Mr Nice Guy! Ed Sheeran taps into his dark side for new TV role

New York - British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, whose music career has been soaring, will play a recurring role in a television epic about a medieval warrior, a report said Monday.

Sheeran, who was the most popular artist globally last year on streaming service Spotify, will appear on The Bastard Executioner series on the FX network, The Hollywood Reporter said.

The series, which is being filmed in Wales, follows a 14th century warrior who becomes a travelling executioner at the behest of a divine messenger.

The ginger-bearded 24-year-old will play Sir Cormac, "an ambitious and deadly protege of a high-ranking church elder," the Hollywood trade publication said.

The series, expected to launch later this year, is being directed by Kurt Sutter who was behind Sons of Anarchy, a crime drama about a California motorcycle gang.

Sheeran was a professed fan of Sons of Anarchy and performed a song for one of its final episodes.

Sheeran is nominated for the top prize at the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards for Thinking Out Loud, in which he performs as a ballroom dancer.

Representatives for the artist and the network did not immediately comment on the report.