Ed Sheeran in Bridget Jones 3: Think Out Loud singer lands speaking role alongside Renée Zellweger

He sings, he dances and now it looks like Ed Sheeran is reinventing himself as an actor. The Sun reports that the talented Thinking Out Loud star has landed a speaking role in the forthcoming Bridget Jones movie. Sources tell the paper that fans could soon see the 24-year-old starring alongside Renee Zellweger, Patrick Dempsey and Colin Firth in Bridget Jones' Baby, when it hits cinemas in 2016.

"Ed was really keen to be part of the movie after granting access to film at his gig," an insider told The Sun. "He's got experience playing himself in Home And Away and is not daunted by the prospect of starring alongside Renee.

The source added: "Bridget Jones is a huge British film so he feels nabbing a cameo is a bit of a coup. He just hopes he'll make the final cut."

The singer-songwriter already appears in the hotly anticipated film as scenes were shot at his Croke Park concert in Dublin earlier this year. While it will be Sheeran's first big screen role, this is not his first foray into acting. As well as a cameo appearance in Home and Away, he played Sir Cormac, an assistant to a powerful priest, in The Bastard Executioner.

Meanwhile, he has received an honorary degree from University Campus Suffolk (UCS) in Ipswich, for his "outstanding contribution to music". The pop star, who grew up in Framlingham, Suffolk, quit school at the age of 16 to concentrate on singing.

"I've had an amazing year with my world tour and this makes it even better," he said. "Suffolk is very much where I call home and I'm always welcomed back and get so much support. Receiving this recognition is a real privilege."

Zellwegger will be reprising her role as the mishap-prone British publishing executive as she enters her 40s in the follow-up to 2004 movie Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. While plot details remain under wraps, the film is believed to based on columns written by creator Helen Fielding and not her latest novel Mad About The Boy. Director Sharon Maguire, who was at the helm for Bridget Jones's Diary in 2001, will be back in charge.