Sky TV Guide article

I found this while flicking through my sky magazine. It was accompanied by some rather yummy pictures :D Its not really got anything new in it but I'll type it up anyway. He talks of advice Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt gave him, how he got his role in LOTR, his father and Kate.

Sky The Magazine
August 2004: pages 12 - 15
Roald Rynning

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which premieres on Sky Movies this month, is the second installment in the trilogy and confirmed the star quality of Orlando Bloom. Here he talks about his sudden rise to fame, the advice he got from Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt, and how he knows he's fallen on his feet...

There are some poeple who are born lucky, and Orlando Bloom admits he's one of them. the actor was still a student at London's Guidhall School of Music and Drama when he was cast as Legolas the elf in The Lord of The Rings trilogy. At the time he didnt realise how big the films were going to be. "I was 22, I had two more days left at college and it was like, 'here, have a career!'" he recalls. "I didnt wuite understand how fortunate I'd been. I just thought it would be great to have work for the next 18 months(the time it took to film the three picutres back to back). Then a friend was just dumb struck about my luck telling me it was the greatest opportunity ever."

The second installment of the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, premieres on Sky Movies this month. It continues the story from the first film, with Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Austin) on their journey to destroy the One Ring. MEanwhile Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and Orlandos character, Legolas, join forces with the Rohan, a race of horse-riding humans, to combat the growing power of the Dark Lord Sauron. The amazing effects, dramatic storyline and dark fantasy are as immense in this film as in the first. But Orlando says he enjoyed this movie more. "With the first one, we had all these characters to introduce and a really complicated story to explain," he says. "With this one, we were able to let rip with fantastic battle sequences and introduce great new characters."

Inevitably the nine leading actors became close during the 18 month shoot, and had had a tattoo done - an elvish symbol - as proof of their camaraderie (John Rhys-Davies sent his stunut double!). Orlando would be thrilled if there was another installment. "I would absolutely love the chance to be Legolas again," he says. "No question. If I had the time and opportunity I'd be there in a second!"

But its not only the Lord of the Rings that Orlando is known for know. He's starred in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, with Johnny Depp, and more recently in the Greek epic Troy, with Brad Pitt. Both the A-List Hollywood stars were more than willing to give the 26 year old tips on handling fame. "Johnny told me not to get seduced by the money and never to gorget why I wanted to be an actor. He told me to stay true to myself." Orlando recieved another valuable lesson from Brad. "That was quite an experience, to see someone get properly mobbed," he says of the attention Brad got while filming [Troy] in Malta. "The whole place came apart, yet he was impeccable in his manner and very gracious. I've learnt allot from Brad and Johnny."

Born in Canterbury, Kent, Orlandowas brought up by his mother after his dad, Harry Bloom, a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist, deid when Orlando was four. But when he reached his teens, his mother told him her boyfriend (and his guardian), Colin Stone, was his real father. the relationship had been encouraged by Harry, who was dying of cancer. "It's an unusual story, but all families have their stuff," he shrugs. "Harry was always a role model for me. My mother spoke of him so fondly."

Orlando was drawn to acting as a youngster after realising the Superman on screen was called Christopher Reeve and wasnt a real life hero. "Once I was old enough to understand that those characters were actors, I was like, Man I can become an actor and be all sorts of things," he says. At 16 he joined the National Youth Theatre in London, scoring minor parts in TV series such as Casualty and Midsomer Murders before making his film debut in the 1997 Oscar Wilde biopic, [Wilde[/i]. Next came a small role in the actioner Black Hawk Down, then Lord of the Rings.

As for romance, Orlando has been linked to actress Joanne Morley and make up artist Jemma Kiid (supermodels Jodies sister). For the past year however he's dated actress Kate Bosworth, whos in 2002's Rules of Attraction and Blue Crush. she visited him in Mexico, when he was film,ing Troy. "Kate is a great girl, but I dont like to talk about that stuff," he sighs. "Its not necessary. People want to know everything..."

What is common knowledge is Orlandos love of adventure sports - he went parachuting and bungee-jumping while filming [Lord of the Rings]. "Thats partly why making it was so amazing for me, because New Zealand is such an outdoors place," he says. "Im an adrenaline junkie. I've had so many accidents vecause Im scared of being scared, so I push my boundaries." His list of broken bones includes wrist, nose, toe, both legs, a rib and a cracked skull (three times). But his worst injury came in his final year at the Guildhall when he fell three stories (while trying to get to a roof terrace via a drainpipe) and broke his back. Amazingly, he was out of hospital on crutches 12 days later. "For four days they didnt think I'd walk again, but they put me back together. It refoucesed me and made me really appreciate life."

Handsome, sensitive and adventurous - its no wonder Orlando has become such a heart throb. "Its flattering of course," he says modestly, "but I dont feel any different now than a few years ago. Im much more interested in growing as an actor than being a heart throb, because the shelf life of a heart throb is extremely short."

pweh! I didnt realize it was quite that long!

[SilverSpoon]

You said there are yummy pictures! Where are the yummy pictures?!

thanks for that Emily [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Cat]

Originally posted by SilverSpoon:
You said there are yummy pictures! Where are the yummy pictures?!

Yeah, I'm with SilverSpoon, where are the yummy pics? ;)

Thanks [img]smile.gif[/img]

Sorry to disappoint but I have a lack of working scanner [img]graemlins/ohwell.gif[/img] :(