Orlando article in Heromantics
January 12, 2004
Heromantics (France)
December/January 2004

Translated by Adelle
Scans from Karine


He became a celebrity from playing the elf Legolas in the Lord of the
Rings, and now Return of the King hits theatres December 17th. He has
confirmed his heroic stature by playing the young pirate in Pirates of
the Caribbean along side Johnny Depp. I wanted to know if we could count
on Orlando Bloom to deliver.

What he likes

My father was an activist in South Africa. He was put in jail for his
beliefs. Hes my hero! He had solid values based in love.

My mother Sheila. She would make little competitions for my sister and I
to read the Bible. I guess thats sort of how I got into my line of work.

Samantha, my older sister. We used to fight a lot when we were kids. Now
that we are older, we understand each other better. She got me really
into fashion. She would dress me up in vintage clothes. I had moccasins,
boots and cow boy shirts.

Having found my voice. When I was nine, I had a huge crush on this girl.
A bunch of other kids and I would race to see who would get to be her
boyfriend for the day. At that moment, I would have liked to be Superman.
The day I found out that Superman was played by an actor, I knew that
that is what I wanted to do.

Relationships. I am very passionate and attentive. With me, life is fun
and calm!

Childhood memories. My childhood in Canterbury Kent was pleasant. Good
friends, super family and education. I grew up in a big house surrounded
by nature. We played in the gardens, we dressed up in old army clothes
and funny hats etc.

Combat and sword fighting in Pirates. Everything was repetition, the
style of the blade, the way the blades sing when they hit.

Love. What we resent about love is that it so powerful. But you have to
like love!

Pastimes. I love to train, or walk along the beach.

I love to do things with a big group of people, but I think I am more of
a leader than a follower.

Traveling. I love to travel.

In search of a rush. I like surfing, whether it is on water or snow, I
like activities that give me an adrenaline rush. When I was in New
Zealand, I did bungee jumping. Its not very dangerous, but its scary
enough! I also did some parachuting, that gave me the jitters!

Overcoming obstacles. In one scene in Lord of the Rings I had to ride a
horse and shoot an arrow at the same time. Its a really cow boy and
Indian trick.

My tattoos. I have the elvish nine tattooed on my forearm. All the
fellowship has one. And I have a small sun just under my belly button.
You have to be really serious about a tattoo, since they last forever!

The second and third Lord of the Rings. For me, the second and third
films are the most passionate. There are huge battle sequences. I loved
finding myself in Legolas skin.

Heros. When I found out that Superman and other characters were not real,
but played by an actor, I decided thats what I want to do, so that I
could be anyone.

Choosing film. I love films with a great story line.

Challenges. For Lord of the Rings I had to learn how to shoot a bow and
arrow, ride a horse, and speak in elvish. After that, I think playing a
normal character sounds really interesting.

Tolkien's message in Lord of the Rings. It tells about how a strong will
can allow anyone to do anything. Even move mountains.

The Elves. The elves are fascinating and worthy of admiration. They are
very experienced sinced they have live for so many years. They have a
certain innocence to them.

First Job. When I was 13, I worked as a ball trap. I was great to be
able to be outside all day.


Things I dont like

My accident. I was on London with some friends and I was climbing on the
drain pipe to kick a door open when I fell three stories. I broke my
back. The doctors thought I would never walk again. But I had an
operation and I walked out of the hospital on crutches 12 days later. My
back is a constant reminder of how lucky I am.

My injuries. Ive broken my back, my ribs, my nose, my leg, my arm, a toe,
and I've cracked my skull three times.

Arrogance: I encircled myself with friends who would beat me if it ever
came to my mind to cross the limits.

My private life. All of a sudden people are interested in my private life,
and it's making me really nervous!

Engaging myself in a relationship. For now the only thing I have a
relationship with is my work.

Distance problems. Its a problem for all actors. I am always working or
traveling. Its hard to keep a relationship when you live like that.

Regrets: People come in and out of your life. My view on this is pretty
philosophical. Certain things happen for a good reason. You simply have
to believe that life traces your path.

Disappointment. Because of Legolas, girls expect this stunning blonde,
but I wore a wig in the films, and I wore blue contacts. I don't really
look like Legolas at all!

Food: I'm a vegetarian and I don't touch any dairy products, including
milk.

Computers. I am a technophobe, which would explain why I don't have email.


Motivated by money: Doing what we love in life is the most important
certainly more important than making lots of money, and I have the
chance to do both.

School. I was always day dreaming in school, and staring out the window.
It was only in drama class that I started to really pay attention.

Not working with my friends from LOTR anymore: I miss them a lot. We
worked together as a team for 14 months and now its over. We were always
every close on set but it will never be the same. Our work on that
movie is finished but our friendship will last forever.

The breakdown. If you were small in LOTR, you were chosen to be a hobbit,
if you were fairly tall, you would be chosen to play a human. But if
you had a mysterious air you were hired to be an elf. And all that is
the truth.

Suffering: In LOTR, during the same week, Viggo broke two toes while
kicking a helmet, John's double (Rhys Davies) hurt his knee and I broke
a rib falling off a horse. After that we had to shoot a scene where we
had to run across Middle Earth. We started with a sprint but finished
limping and moaning.

That Legolas doesn't have a love interest in Arwen. Yes, I admit I would
have loved for Legolas to fall in love with Arwen in the film. Peter
Jackson didn't like the idea!


*~* MimseyGreenleaf *~*
aka ~ Maranw Telrnya (elvish)
aka ~ Melilot Gamgee-Took of Bywater (Hobbit-ish)

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