Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom is an English actor.
After having his breakthrough by starring in the The Lord of the Rings trilogy, he rose
through fame by further appearing in epic fantasy, historical epic and fantasy adventure
films.
His most famous roles include Legolas in the The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the The
Hobbit trilogy, Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Paris in Troy
and Balian de Ibelin in Kingdom of Heaven.
He subsequently established himself as a lead in Hollywood films, such as Elizabethtown,
and appeared in the ensemble films New York, I Love You, and Main Street.
Bloom made his professional stage debut in West End's In Celebration at the Duke of York's
Theatre, St. Martin's Lane, which ended its run in September 2007.
In 2009, Bloom was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
He was married to Australian model Miranda Kerr.
Early life Orlando Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent,
England, and has one sister, Samantha Bloom, who was born in 1975.
His mother, Sonia Constance Josephine, was born in the British section of Kolkata, India,
the daughter of Betty Constance Josephine and Francis John Copeland, who was a physician
and surgeon.
Through her, Bloom is a cousin of photographer Sebastian Copeland.
Bloom's mother's family lived in Tasmania, Australia, Japan, and India, and were of English
descent, some of them having originally come from Kent.
During his childhood, Bloom was told that his father was his mother's husband, Jewish
South African-born anti-Apartheid novelist Harry Saul Bloom; however, when he was thirteen,
Bloom's mother revealed to him that his biological father was actually Colin Stone, his mother's
partner and family friend.
Stone, the principal of the Concorde International language school, was made Orlando Bloom's
legal guardian after Harry Bloom's death.
Bloom is named after the 16th century composer Orlando Gibbons.
Bloom was raised in the Church of England.
He attended St. Peter's Methodist Primary School, then The King's School Canterbury
and St Edmund's School in Canterbury, and is dyslexic.
He was encouraged by his mother to take art and drama classes.
In 1993, he moved to London to follow a two year A Level course in Drama, Photography
and Sculpture at Fine Arts College, Hampstead.
He then joined the National Youth Theatre, spending two seasons there and earning a scholarship
to train at the British American Drama Academy.
Bloom began acting professionally with television roles in episodes of Casualty and Midsomer
Murders, and subsequently made his film debut in Wilde, opposite Stephen Fry, before entering
the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he studied acting.
Career
Bloom's first appearance on the screen was in a small role, as a rent boy, in the 1997
film Wilde.
Two days after graduating from Guildhall in 1999, he was cast in his first major role,
playing Legolas in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
He had originally auditioned for the part of Faramir, who does not appear until the
second movie, but the director, Peter Jackson, cast him as Legolas instead.
While shooting a scene, he broke a rib after falling off a horse, but eventually recovered
and continued shooting.
At the same time, Bloom also played a brief role in the war film Black Hawk Down as PFC.
Todd Blackburn.
In 2002, he was chosen as one of the Teen People "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" and was
named People's hottest Hollywood bachelor in the magazine's 2004 list.
All members of the cast of the Rings films were nominated for Best Ensemble Acting at
the Screen Actors Guild Awards for three years in a row, finally winning in 2003 for the
third film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Bloom has also won other awards, including European Film Awards, Hollywood Festival Award,
Empire Awards and Teen Choice Awards, and has been nominated for many others.
Most of Bloom's box office successes have been as part of an ensemble cast.
Bloom next starred opposite Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean:
The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was a blockbuster hit during the summer of 2003.
After the success of Pirates, Bloom next took to the screen as Paris, the man who effectively
started the Trojan War, in the 2004 Spring blockbuster, Troy opposite Brad Pitt, Eric
Bana and Peter O'Toole.
He subsequently played the lead roles in Kingdom of Heaven and Elizabethtown.
In 2006, Bloom starred in sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and in the
independently made Haven, of which he was also executive producer.
In the same year he was one of the guest stars in the sitcom Extras, in which he portrayed
an exaggeratedly arrogant, narcissistic version of himself who had a great loathing for Johnny
Depp; Bloom pushed for Extras to go further by making his part unlikeable, and contributed
to the gag about him admiring Depp out of sheer jealously, that Depp was far more talented
than he was, not to mention rated higher than him on the 'top hottest' charts.
Also in 2006, Bloom was the most searched male on Google News.
As of May 2007, Bloom has appeared in four of the top 15 highest grossing films of all
time.
Bloom then again portrayed Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,
released on 24 May 2007.
Bloom, who had intended to become a stage actor after graduating from the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama, had stated that he would like to leave films for a time and
instead appear in stage roles, and is "avidly looking for the right sort of material that
[he] can do something with" and go "back to basics".
During the summer of 2007, he appeared in a London revival of In Celebration, a play
by David Storey.
His character was one of three brothers returning home for their parents' 40th wedding anniversary.
On 24 August 2007, he made his first ever TV commercial appearance on late-night Japanese
TV, promoting the Uno brand of cosmetics maker Shiseido.
A "one night only", 2-minute version of the Sci-Fi themed commercial kicked off the product's
marketing campaign.
In 2008 he signed on to play a small role in the British film An Education but dropped
out to take the lead in Johnny To's film Red Circle.
Also in 2009, he was one of many stars to appear in New York, I Love You, which contained
twelve short films in one.
His most recent film role is in The Three Musketeers opposite Milla Jovovich, Logan
Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Juno Temple and Christoph Waltz,
released in 2011.
In October 2011, Orlando Bloom stated that he would like to return for a fifth Pirates
of the Caribbean film if he was offered.
Bloom reprised his role as Legolas in parts two and three of The Hobbit, Peter Jackson's
three-part prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Bloom made his Broadway stage debut as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in August 2013 at the
Richard Rodgers Theatre.
The New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley described Bloom's performance as “a first-rate
Broadway debut” in the title role: “For once, we have a Romeo who evolves substantively,
from a posturing youth in love with love, to a man who discovers the startling revelation
of real love, with a last-act descent into bilious, bitter anger that verges on madness.”
Personal life Relationships
Bloom had an "on-and-off relationship" with American actress, Kate Bosworth, from 2003
until splitting up in September 2006.
In late 2007 Bloom began dating Australian model, Miranda Kerr.
They announced their engagement in June 2010, and were married the following month.
Kerr gave birth to their son, Flynn Christopher Blanchard Copeland Bloom, in January 2011
in Los Angeles.
On 25 October 2013, Bloom and Kerr announced that they had separated several months earlier,
and intended to end their marriage.
Other interests Bloom has said that he tries "not to exclude
[himself] from real life as much as possible".
During filming in Morocco for Kingdom of Heaven, Bloom rescued and adopted a dog, Sidi.
Bloom is a practising Buddhist.
In 2004, he became a full member of Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist association
affiliated with the teachings of Nichiren.
Bloom has also been a part of Global Green, an environmental company, since the early
2000s.
As part of his environmental involvement, he has renovated his London home to use solar
panels, incorporate recycled materials, and utilise energy efficient lightbulbs.
Bloom has been approached by UNICEF to act as an international ambassador.
Bloom has a tattoo of the Elvish word "nine" on his right wrist, written in letters of
the fictional Tengwar Elvish script, a reference to his involvement in the Lord of the Rings
and the fact that his character was one of the nine members of the Fellowship of the
Ring.
The other actors of "The Fellowship" got the same tattoo with the exception of John Rhys-Davies
whose stunt double got the tattoo instead.
Bloom also has a tattoo of a sun on his lower, left abdomen, which he got at the age of 15
just before moving to London.
Bloom has sustained several injuries: he broke his left arm and cracked his skull three times,
broke his nose while playing rugby union, broke his right leg skiing in Switzerland,
broke his left leg in a motorbike crash, and broke his right wrist while snowboarding.
He also broke his back when he slipped trying to reach a roof terrace of a friend's house
and fell three floors.
He also broke some ribs while shooting The Lord of the Rings.
On 15 November 2008, Bloom participated in a test drive in Moscow celebrating the 60th
anniversary of Land Rover.
On 12 February 2009, Bloom actively participated in the 'Australia Unites' fundraiser to raise
support for the victims of the Australian bushfires on 7 February 2009.
On 13 July 2009, four hooded teenagers broke into the Hollywood Hills home of Orlando Bloom
and stole nearly half a million dollars worth of possessions.
The burglars, dubbed the "Bling Ring", targeted the homes of young celebrities.
Most of Bloom's stolen items have been retrieved.
On 12 October 2009, Bloom was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
He has been involved in the organisation since 2007 and has visited schools and villages
in Nepal in support of sanitation and education programmes.
Accolades On 13 July 2010, Bloom was presented with
an Honorary Degree from the University of Kent at Canterbury Cathedral.
Bloom received the 2,521st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 2 April 2014.
Filmography Awards and nominations
References
External links Orlando Bloom at the Internet Movie Database
Orlando Bloom at AllMovie Orlando Bloom at People.com
Orlando Bloom discusses Haven'BI' at independentfilm.com