Orlando Bloom's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) The Graham Norton Show (UK) Orlando Bloom The Brendan Leonard Show Orlando Bloom

Main Movie Roles 2009 - New York, I Love You 2007 - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 2006 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 2006 - Love and Other Disasters 2005 - Kingdom of Heaven 2005 - Elizabethtown 2004 - Haven 2004 - Troy 2004 - The Calcium Kid 2003 - Ned Kelly 2003 - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2001 - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001 - Black Hawk Down 1997 - Wilde

BIOGRAPHY:

Orlando Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent, England on January 13, 1977. The man he briefly knew as his father, Harry Bloom, was a legendary political activist who fought for civil rights in South Africa. But Harry died of a stroke when Orlando was only four years old. After that, Orlando and his older sister, Samantha Bloom, were raised by their mother, Sonia, and family friend, Colin Stone. When Orlando was 13, Sonia revealed to him that Colin was actually his biological father.

Orlando attended St. Edmunds School in Canterbury but struggled in many courses because of dyslexia. He did embrace the arts, however, and enjoyed pottery, photography and sculpturing. He also participated in school plays and was active at his local theater. As a teen, Orlando landed his first job: he was a clay trapper at a pigeon shooting range. Encouraged by his mother, he and his sister began studying poetry and prose, eventually giving readings at Kent Festival. Orlando and Samantha won many poetry and Bible reciting competitions. Then Orlando, who always idolized larger-than-life characters, gravitated towards serious acting. At the age of 16, he moved to London and joined the National Youth Theatre, spending two seasons there and gaining a scholarship to train with the British American Drama Academy. Like many young actors, he also auditioned for a number of television roles to further his career, landing bit parts in British television shows "Casualty" (1986), "Midsomer Murders" (1997) and "Smack the Pony" (1999). He also appeared in the critically acclaimed movie Wilde (1997).

He then attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. It was there, in 1998, that Orlando fell three stories from a rooftop terrace and broke his back. Despite fears that he would be permanently paralyzed, he quickly recovered and returned to the stage. As fate would have it, seated in the audience one night in 1999 was a director named Peter Jackson (I). After the show, he met with Orlando and asked him to audition for his new set of movies. After graduating from Guildhall, Orlando began work on the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, spending 18 months in New Zealand bringing to life "Legolas", a part which made him a household name. Today, he is one of the busiest and most sought-after actors in the industry.


TRIVIA:

• Originally auditioned to play the role of "Faramir" in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy but lost out on that role and was instead asked to play the role of Legolas.
• His first job was as a clay trapper at a pigeon shooting range when he was 13.
• He won the 2002 MTV Movie Award for "Breakthrough Male."
• Received a great amount of "stage combat" training while at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (as part of the drama program in conjunction with the British Academy of Stage and Theatre Combat), which helped prepare him a great deal in the characters he has chosen to play, that fight with swords, bows and knives.
• Is "mildly dyslexic".
• His favourite vegetable is spinach.
• He has received an invitation to join the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford Upon Avon, which he plans to do in the near future when he has some time off from working on film. His goal is to perform Hamlet on the Swan stage (RSC main), one of Shakespeare's most challenging works.
• On People (USA) magazine's '50 Most Beautiful' list [2004].