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| "Orlando's great. He's completely insane," offers Elijah Wood who plays Frodo in the films. "He's quite funny without actually trying to be funny. He'll sort of sit down and he can't sit still for very long and he'll say, 'I think I need to move my car' and he'll be off. You'll be having a conversation with him and be like 'where'd he go?' " |
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| Orlando Bloom is undoubtedly one of Hollywood’s finest rising actors, and one of Britain’s sexiest male exports. With over 15 films under his belt, and several more in the works, it was amazing he had time to come and pick up three surfboard awards (for Action-Adventure movie of the summer, Choice Hottie and Choice Rumble) at the 2006 Teen Choice Awards in Universal City, CA. Here's what he had to say... How does it feel to be a part of such an incredible movie trilogy like Pirates Of The Caribbean? Great. I have to say it’s great to be a part of a film that kids can really enjoy going to see and respond to, and they seem to really love it. It’s something great for people to enjoy. Who did you bring with you to the Teen Choice Awards? I have one of my best friends from London here with me tonight actually. He’s never been to anything like this so for him it’s kind of like the real deal. Very exciting, you know? What was the big highlight of your summer? Wow! Geez, the highlight of my summer would have to be getting a bit of time off actually! I got about three weeks between filming the 2nd and the 3rd installments of Pirates, so I got to hang out in London with my mom and my friends and my family. Growing up, all kids have chores their parents make them do. What was the worst chore your mom ever made you do? You know, my mom used to make me polish the brass and the door knobs and other stuff. I kind of liked it, I don’t know…but now… (laughter) What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Be true to yourself. To thine own self be true, and that’s a real challenge. It was given to me numerous times in my life by different people like teachers, coaches, professors. What are you working on after Pirates? I’ve got to tell you that there’s this new film I did in the middle of all these big movies, it’s called Haven and it’s out September 15. It’s from a first time director, a 24-year old kid did it. He shot in the Caribbean again, believe it or not, I seem to not be able to get away from the Caribbean. But there is no sword in it, in this one, but it’s um, I’m really proud of it. It’s a real… It’s a kind of youth culture movie. It’s a sort of Romeo and Juliet, kind of West Side Story broken love story and it’s a good one, you know? So hopefully... that’s out September 15. What charities do you support, especially around the holidays? Global-Cool is an environmental organization I just went out to Tokyo for. It’s called Global hyphen Cool. They’re a company that have identified that within ten years there will be a tipping point from which we won’t be able to return, and something as simple as switching off our mobile phone chargers – you know when you’ve finished charging your phone – if you just unplug it in the wall or switch the power circuit off; if everybody in the United States did that (and I’m in the U.K.), we could close a handful of power stations. The amount of power that we could save... You know, it takes eight watts to have your TV on standby. Its 8.1 watts to like turn it on so if you turn that off at the wall it just makes such a huge difference. And the polar bears are kind of gone already… the ice caps are now melting… it’s kind of, the time’s up for them, and what this company Global-cool.com, which you can check it out, is identifying that within ten years there is a tipping point that if we don’t do something about it, we’re not going to be able to return from. So there are alternative sources and solutions out there that we can use, but obviously we’re not getting the information to be able to use them at this point. But we should and we hopefully will soon. |
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| As the best-looking elf ever to hit the big screen, The Lord of the Rings' Orlando Bloom has launched himself out of middle-earth and into the mainstream Forgive Orlando Bloom, but he's still reeling. Three years ago he was a student at London's Guildhall School of Music & Drama, just days away from graduation, when he won the role of a 2,931-year-old elf named Legolas in the hottest project in Hollywood, The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The next thing he knew, the boy from Canterbury, England, who got his start reciting poetry at local arts festivals, was jetting off to New Zealand for 18 months of filming on the mystical epic with the whole process shrouded in secrecy. "We weren't allowed to take photographs {of ourselves}" Orlando recalls. "I would have to wear a hooded jacket in the car on the way to the set and home every day too if I still had the elf ears on." The first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring, catapulted Orlando to unexpected screen-idol status. And this month's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, in which hobbits Frodo and Sam journey on to Mordor while Legolas and the rest of the gang fight the evil forces at Helm's Deep, is sure to keep him there. "I'm constantly bewildered at the actuality of being in that movie," says Orlando, 25. "I'm overwhelmed by it." These days he has a bounty of choice roles coming his way. Next up, Orlando's an outlaw in the movie The Kelly Gang, costarring Heath Ledger. "It was an all-boys thing," Orlando says, "riding around on horses with guns." Then he has to cope with another ring--the boxing kind--for a British comedy called The Calcium Kid. "I play a working-man's hero, a young guy who is a milkman, but he also boxes," says Orlando, who's now in training for the role. "I drink a lot of milk." There is one downside to this kind of success: Orlando's so popular now that people want to gossip about him and pass around wrong information on the Web, which strikes him as really strange. To set the record straight, he insists his idol is not Superman ("I've been trying to live down this story forever") and he didn't start acting to pick up chicks ("Rubbish," he says. "I liked to perform from an early age"). Orlando hopes to have his own site up soon to help squash the rumors. Until then, know this: He puts family first, living in Canterbury, where his mother runs a language school for foreign students (his dad died when Orlando was four), and he's in love with Maude, his dog. As for his romantic life, his last big relationship fell apart while he was making The Lord of the Rings. Still, Orlando's not giving up on love. "When you start falling for somebody and you can't stop thinking about when you're going to see them again, I love that," he says. "Women are beautiful. They deserve to be cherished and respected." And, he adds with a laugh, "They're a handful." |
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| “The way I live my life is not to exclude myself from real life as much as possible,” he continues. “Fame and celebrity can make some people go into a shell, and there’s no doubt I’ve been in that shell, but I’m more embracing of real life. I’m not one of those people who puts themself in a golden cage.” |
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| Away from the film set, Bloom says he enjoys spending as much time as possible with his dog, Sidi, a stray black labrador he found in Morocco while filming Kingdom of Heaven. He’s so besotted with the pooch, he even made a pair of Sidi’s puppy fangs into cufflinks. |
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| Orlando Bloom was born in Canterbury in 1977 and named after Orlando Gibbons, a 17th-century composer. He appeared in three episodes of Casualty before attending the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, then shot to fame as Legolas in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He is now starring in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. A practising Buddhist, he split from the actress Kate Bosworth last year and is single By Garth Pearce Life’s been one huge accident Orlando Bloom has made enough money in the past few years to buy a fleet of Bentleys, but claims to be more of a bus man. If you believe the Pirates of the Caribbean star, he likes nothing more than to hop on the No 22, for example, on the way to his latest celebrity engagement. It used to be that no leading man’s lifestyle was complete without a flash sports car parked on Mulholland Drive, but Bloom is one of a growing number of A-listers keen to show off their green credentials. In March he was among a string of stars attending the Oscars in a hybrid Toyota Prius; he is in the process of building his own eco-friendly house; and he recently threw his celebrity weight behind Global Cool, an initiative to cut carbon emissions by encouraging people to turn off televisions and other energy-draining gadgets. But Bloom claims the bus trips, trains and cycle rides are not down to his guilty green conscience – he’s simply been too busy becoming rich and famous to find time to buy a car. He is trying to remedy the situation and is looking for one, although interestingly safety rather than greenness is his primary concern. The 30-year-old actor is more accident zone than accident prone. He reels off the damage to date: he cracked his skull and broke his left arm falling out of a tree. He broke his nose during a rugby match. He broke his right leg skiing in Switzerland, his left leg in a motorbike crash and his right wrist snowboarding, and he cracked a rib falling from a horse while filming The Lord of the Rings. But he excelled himself when in his second year of drama school in London. “I was in a friend’s apartment in Notting Hill and their roof terrace door had been mangled by the weather,” he says. “I kicked it from the inside, fell out, hung on to a drainpipe until it gave way and fell two storeys.” After 12 days in hospital he left wearing two plates and six bolts in his back, plus a brace that he had to wear for 12 months – a vast improvement on the original prognosis, which had suggested he might not walk again. Considering Bloom has since spent much of his film career wielding swords and firing bows and arrows, he’s a triumph of recovery. He’s not taking any chances, though, and now has more good luck charms around his neck and wrists than Gypsy Rose Lee had in her factory. “My life is on a string,” he jokes grimly. “Up to that fall I was moving a bit too quickly in life. It was a wake-up call. After a life-threatening injury you are forced to confront your deepest fears. I made it a positive thing – to wake up and smell the roses.” Bloom, who is now a Buddhist, has had his own personal rose garden ever since. He was hired as Legolas in The Lord of the Rings just two days after completing his studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (his progress delayed due to the injury). In the drama school days he had a rented room and a clapped-out car. “I went down to an auction on the Wandsworth Bridge Road in London and bought a VW Golf, in dark green, for £160,” he recalls. “I drove it everywhere until it died on me.” And now? He’s our most bankable box office star, having been in four of the 15 top-grossing films of all time. Make that five, after the latest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which also stars Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley, opened in cinemas on Friday and is expected to gross around a billion dollars worldwide during the next few months. He’s doing what sensible stars always do, putting it into bricks and mortar. Not any old bricks, either. “I’m building a house that is powered by a new technology for solar panels,” Bloom explains. “I will be using energy efficient lightbulbs and I am trying to think of how to use as many recycled materials as possible.” It might be new age but the project has suffered old-style setbacks. “It has, so far, taken double the time and cost double the budget,” he says. “And it has been so stressful.” The new house is in London where Bloom is looking forward to relaxing near family and friends after eight years of epic filmic adventures and constant travelling. Between filming, Bloom has fitted in a trip to Antarctica with Global Green, an environmental lobby group, to see the effects of global warming for himself. “I spent three weeks on a 1950s Norwegian icebreaker,” he says. “I slept in a room the size of a bus shelter, shared a toilet and bathroom with 27 other dudes and did the washing up. “It was the best real experience I’ve had in a long time. There were no privileges. The privilege was being in that position. I went scuba diving – the water was freezing but I had a swim for the hell of it – and climbed up a mountain. It was crazy.” Bloom’s next project will be even more of a challenge. Having split from long-term girlfriend Kate Bosworth last year, he has since been linked to actresses Kirsten Dunst and Penelope Cruz. He is now on the lookout for true love and recently revealed he had signed up to the Facebook networking website under a false name and using a friend’s photo. “It’s difficult to know sometimes whether girls like me or the guy they see in Pirates of the Caribbean,” he says. “This way I get to know them from behind a disguise.” Girls trawling the website hoping to stumble upon the dashing movie hunk should look out for an accident-prone 30-year-old whose interests include cycling, recycling and bus travel. On his CD changer I listen to my iPod when I'm being driven anywhere. I like the Raconteurs, a band called Beirut, and I'm still listening to the Clash, the Rolling Stones and the Band of Horses. They have a great song called The Funeral. |
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| Actor ORLANDO BLOOM has credited his childhood dyslexia for making him strive for success. The hunky Pirates of the Caribbean star, 30, struggled with schoolwork as a youth but excelled in the arts, and he admits his disability helped him to develop a strong sense of ambition. He says, "Because of the dyslexia I always thought I had to work twice as hard as everyone else just to go the same distance. And I think that gave me a real kick as a kid and a lot of fight and a lot of drive later on, like when I broke my back. "And now, whenever I prepare for a meeting I am always over prepared. So for the Lord Of The Rings audition, for example, I really prepared it thoroughly. In one sense, I guess that I'm grateful; it gave me that drive, and so far it's paid off." |
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| Romantic Hero Sought! Find him as we'll flock to the cinemas! Forbes.com reports that since 2001, 252 movies (excluding animated features) have earned at least $10 million at the US Box Office. According to data provided in 2003 by Boxofficereport.com only 156 (62%) actually featured at least one star name. Breaking this down; out of the 36 top hits that grossed $125 million or more, only 16 (44.4%) had celebrity stars. In the middle of the pack with 29 films grossing between $75 million and $125 million, 72.4% of these featured a star name. But a star, or even two, is no guarantee of a hit as 56.8% of the worst flops (films grossing less than $20 million), had a star and still failed! Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Joie, Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Aniston, Michael Douglas, Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet all headlined flops during this period. Today, the picture has not changed. Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig (The Invasion), Richard Gere (The Hoax), George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Toby Maguire (The Good German). Jodie Foster (The Brave One), Brad Pitt, (Assassination of Jesse James), Angelina Joie (A Mighty Heart), Halle Berry (Things We Lost in The Fire) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Zodiac) all have one thing in common… Their movies, released in 2007, have all `officially' bombed at the Box Office – and with titles like these, is it any wonder? In fact, Nicole Kidman's last three movies have all been flops. As Variety magazine's executive editor, Steven Gaydos points out, "Nicole stands tall as one of the top earners in Hollywood, but she's starting to come up short where it counts: at the box office! She's had a few movies in a row that haven't worked and, in this town, you are only as good, or as bad, as your last picture." One film critic notes: "If there's a lesson to be learned from the most recent movie flops, it's that moviegoers are opting for escapist entertainment more than ever. Understandably, at a time when the media's focus is on US battlefield casualties in Iraq, terrorist threats at home and abroad, and savage murders of hostages in the Middle East, the public is choosing movies offering the best chance of getting away from all that grim news. It's a key reason for the success of such hits as Fox's `Dodgeball' and `The Day After Tomorrow,' Warner Bros. `Harry Potter' and `Troy,' Universal's `Van Helsing' and `Shrek' from DreamWorks." That's why the DreamWorks Animation production "Bee Movie" recently topped the US Weekend Box Office ahead of the likes of Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" (crime drama), and Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep in Robert Redford's "Lions for Lambs" (political thriller), which cost £35 million to make but only took a total $13.7 million at the US Box Office. A week later (16-18 November) figures released by mediabynumbers.com put 3-D animated feature "Beowulf", the oldest surviving epic in British literature, (from the performance-capture technology that brought us "The Polar Express") in top position at the US Weekend Box Office. With two animated movies in the Top 3 and the likes of Warner Bros' "Fred Claus" and "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" from Fox, four out of the Top 5 movies were family features! Need we say more? The latest Box Office statistics (23-25 November) from USA Today echo this further by putting Disney's "Enchanted"; a production melding hand-drawn animation with real-life actors, on top followed by family comedy "This Christmas" above "Beowulf" holding on to the No.3 slot. What more proof do we need that "escapism" is truly No.1 on the moviegoers' agenda? "After such a dark and political fall movie season and with the holidays soon approaching, isn't it time we saw some good entertaining family films hit our local theaters? Luckily, Enchanted (action/musical/comedy animated film), Atonement (romantic epic), The Golden Compass (fantasy adventure), which New Line Cinema hopes will be the first in a Lord of the Rings type trilogy, I am Legend (action/fantasy/sci-fi) National Treasure: Book of Secrets (action adventure) will all be out before the end of the year," states MSN movies. Peter Bart, the editor of industry newspaper Variety wrote last month, "While movie stars today can help open a picture, they sure as hell can't guarantee success. Some distributors inevitably ask, `has the basic concept of a movie star become something of an anachronism?'" He points out that, of the 15 most successful films at the US Box Office this year, only three were traditional star vehicles: The Bourne Ultimatum (Matt Damon), Live Free or Die Hard (Bruce Willis) and Wild Hogs (John Travolta). "Despite record-breaking showers at the Global Box Office this summer from Blockbusters such as Spider- Man 3 and Transformers, the most talked-about success stories in studio circles have been the likes of Knocked Up and Disturbia, low- budget films with no stars or gimmicks." Another film buff agrees: "We want escapism and the latest movies on offer unfortunately too closely resemble what we see on TV and on the news every night! The Box Office seems to be in a weird time of transition, where even playing against type or giving people movies to shake them up (shock them) doesn't seem to be working." One article reports: "The question Hollywood movie executives controlling the huge bulk of output had to answer was, what kind of films the traumatized multiplex-goers wanted to see. They would clearly need to escape uncertainly and a possibly long and unpredictable war into the safety of comedies and lyrical romances. No doubt studio chiefs toyed with ideas that perhaps Jim Carrey would be corralled into Dumb And Even Dumber, while Bridget Jones might be prevailed upon to produce another `Diary.' What they certainly wouldn't want were violent movies on wars, drugs and other disasters. Surely there would be enough of that on CNN?" It is not surprising this heartfelt plea came from one Internet Chat Room with 3,978,000 members. "There is no-one in films who is interesting us at the moment. We are HUNGRY for a new, powerful, mean and tough Romantic Hero…A mix of James Dean (strong, silent type), Paul Newman (virtuous, good and a little untouchable), Al Pacino (tough, no nonsense), Marlon Brando (hot), Cary Grant (charming), Steve McQueen (cool and composed) and Error Flynn (gallant and gorgeous)." Who is the Pied-Piper who could bring the moviegoers back into cinemas? "George Clooney is COLD; Brad Pitt's physique is OK but otherwise BORING; James Mackintosh, a bit small and lacking in presence for a convincing Romantic Hero; Jude Law has lost his appeal along with his acting skills; Tom Cruise, is `going, going, cone!" because of his scientology obsession; Robert Redford is too OLD; Richard Gere is over-exposed; Hugh Grant always plays `himself' regardless of the role; Colin Firth is too passive and Clive Owen too mediocre. They just don't have the qualities we are looking for in a leading man!" . The Chat Room goes on to point out, "The general consensus seems to converge on Hollywood hero Orlando Bloom – but where is he? Is he cocooned somewhere reinventing himself as that tough, he-man hero we all want to see?" Audiences are eager to hear what his next film will be and want to see him cast aside that `nice guy' image. The voices echo from all quarters, young and old, reverberating throughout the billions of universal cyber waves of the Internet. "We want to see him get tough, physical, mean and angry for justice, with a voracious passion that will ignite the screen! Please! We are waiting impatiently for him to fly back into the limelight with a wonderful new romantic, feel-good exciting blockbuster." Is anyone out there listening?" Audiences will no doubt flock to see these films, unable to contain the intensity of their anticipation as Bloom has everything it takes to be the Romantic Hero of our generation – the leading man we'll follow into the realms of fantasy. It seems most of us are yearning for good, action adventure family movies that will whisk us away to fantastic worlds and experience the passion, the tragedy, energy and excitement involved in being caught up in a gripping, gritty storyline – something that has nothing to do with the harsh, dismal political messages constantly being thrust onto celluloid these days! They're clearly on a mission, ending with, "Can you help us get this message across?" Maybe we can… Afterall, the evidence is unmistakable! "Orlando Bloom is an extraordinary success story. Has any actor ever been as famous or desired without ever headlining a major picture? And which other actor can boast a US Box Office average of well in excess of $100 million per movie. After Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Orlando returned from holiday unaware of the explosive success of the picture and was shocked to discover its enormous popularity - all the more so by the realization that, of all the cast, it was he who had risen to heart-throb status. On the Internet, he had entered the Top 20 of the most searched for people in the world. And this with his very first proper role! Bloom's rise to fame has been meteoric, to say that least. And, given the projects he has in the pipeline, it can only continue." (Tiscali Film & TV). Tiscali could not have been more right… With Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean under his belt, Orlando Bloom has appeared in two of the most successful trilogies of all-time, both having achieved world record-breaking sales at the Box Office. Pirates of the Caribbean Producer, Jerry Bruckheimer commented: "Orlando could be this generation's Errol Flynn. There's no doubt in my mind. He's handsome, he's debonair, he's a good actor and he's got a great smile. He's smart. He's got the talent so it all comes down to what he picks and the directors and people he works with." Some film critics' remarks concluded: "Orlando Bloom is like a young Errol Flynn here. His natural brown hair colour, his energy and sword play make him a near dead ringer for the former matinee idol. Bloom seems very competent and comfortable in costume movies." "Johnny Depp & Orlando Bloom are like a classic movie due. Bloom playing the Bing Cosby/Dean Martin to Depp's Bob Hope/Jerry Lewis. No signs of an unequal on-screen partnership here! Bloom holds his own in the presence of more established and experienced Depp." "This is easily the best pirate movie to come out of Hollywood in decades!" Fans are baffled why Bloom will not be reprising his role as Will Turner in the Fourth Pirates movie, despite the actor's major contribution to its Box Office success. Having watched him blossom into a heroic, fearless character, with a canny darkness that has drawn in audiences, it is difficult to understand the reasoning behind this move to cut him out of the Pirates adventure. Not only has his screen presence grown with each sequel, but the story-line has evoked intrigue and excitement in the cunning, masterful new Captain of the "Flying Dutchman." When the bad news first hit cyberspace there was no other topic of conversation – every website, Internet Forum and Chat Room dedicated to Orlando Bloom evidenced pages of vented frustrations, disbelief and even anger at this development. For the fans, a Pirates movie without the dashing, relentless, persistent and courageous Will Turner was unthinkable! Along with his continuously growing popularity, celebrity appeal and monopolization of the Internet, came the opportunity for Bloom to take on his first leading role… Kingdom of Heaven director Ridley Scott: "Orlando did a fantastic job! It's a big film to walk into but I think he did great in this. In Troy, he was behind Brad and Eric, so he was supported, but here he's right out front and I thought he did very well." Other industry remarks underlined: "The choice of Orlando Bloom as the hero of the hour is a very wise one. Here Bloom comes of age, giving his most mature performance to date." "Orlando Bloom, shedding the man-boy imagine for the long-haired, bearded look seems ready to take on the world!" "Ridley Scott gets a gritty and convincing leading man performance out of Orlando Bloom." "I am surprised we didn't embrace this movie more? Something tells me that it may take a few years, but eventually Kingdom of Heaven will be seen as one of the best epic movies ever made." Marking Bloom's first leading role, Kingdom of Heaven grossed over $258 million at the Box Office. Due to the hefty sales of the first DVD released, Kingdom of Heaven was given a deluxe DVD treatment and before it had even been officially released, reached the Top 15 DVD's list on Amazon.com. The movie also brought Bloom two awards in recognition of his outstanding performance as a leading man: Audience Award for BEST ACTOR at the European Film Awards Choice MOVIE ACTOR Award at the Teen choice Awards There is no doubt his smooth transition from teen idol to charming, enigmatic leading man has been a successful one. With audiences desperate for true entertainment not reminders of all that's wrong with the world, there is no better time for Orlando Bloom to respond and entice them back into the theatres – by taking centre stage and claiming the spotlight as this generation's Romantic HERO. If the statistical landscape of his popularity and ever-growing dedicated fan base – accompanied by the boisterous chorus of millions singing his praises – is anything to go by, we strongly recommend Mr. Bloom jumps back into the limelight so audiences worldwide can sit back and enjoy romance, mystery, thrills and breathtaking adventures at his helm. |