Biography of Orlando Bloom
Orlando Bloom is a sex symbol of British and world cinema. Undoubtedly, the role of the elf Legolas in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean brought him fame.
Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom
Childhood
Orlando Bloom was born on January 13, 1977 in the British town of Canterbury, Kent. His mother, Sophia Bloom, was the founder and director of a language school for foreign students, and besides that, she was fond of writing.
Orlando Bloom’s first baby photo
Her husband, Gary Bloom, a Jew by nationality, was born in South Africa, fought apartheid for a long time and was a lawyer for Nelson Mandela himself. After Bloom Sr. wrote a number of books about racial segregation in the South African Republic, the country’s government began to persecute him. In 1963, the man was forced to emigrate to the UK. He subsequently became a professor at the University of Kent.
Photo from the Orlando Bloom family archive
This undeniably outstanding man passed away when Orlando was 4 years old. For the next ten years, Sofia raised the boy and his older sister Samantha alone. However, a close friend of the Bloom family, Colin Stone, helped the lonely woman. And when the boy met his 13th birthday, his mother stunned him with the news that Colin was not just a true friend, but Orlando’s biological father.
As a child, Orlando Bloom lost and found his father again
Sophia instilled in her children a love of art from childhood, therefore, at an early age, Orlando Bloom began to reach out for learning languages, photography and theater. And besides this, in his youth, the young man was fond of horses and was a very good rider, which helped Bloom a lot in his film career. By the way, the desire to become an actor appeared in his head after watching the film “Billiard Player” – this is how Paul Newman’s game inspired him.
Actor career
Orlando Bloom made his stage debut as a child. At school, he took part in several theatrical productions. In 1993, the 16-year-old young man went to London and played for two seasons on the stage of the National Youth Theatre. After that, he received a grant to study at the British American Academy of Dramatic Arts. True, it was only a year to study. However, it was worth it – stars such as Jennifer Ehle, David Schwimmer and Oliver Platt graduated from the walls of the prestigious academy. At the academy, Orlando played in the play A Walk in the Vienna Woods and even got his own agent.
A selection of the early roles of Orlando Bloom
In 1996, Orlando Bloom first appeared on TV screens. He starred in several episodes of the television series Casualty, and a year later he starred in the drama The Wild with Jude Law and Stephen Fry. So far, only in an episodic and very specific role – young prostitutes.
Young Orlando Bloom in Wild (1997)
For the next three years, Bloom studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. By the way, studying the plays of Chekhov, Shakespeare and Milton helped the actor get rid of dyslexia, which Orlando suffered from childhood.
Orlando Bloom and The Lord of the Rings
In his third year of study, Orlando Bloom came to the casting for the film adaptation of Tolkien’s novel “The Lord of the Rings”, which was directed by Peter Jackson. The actor planned to get the role of Faramir. But the desired character went to David Wenham. And for the better – who knows what the ash-haired elf Legolas would have been like then …
Orlando Bloom has been confirmed for the role of Legolas.
Before leaving for 18 months in New Zealand, where the shooting took place, he appeared in one of the episodes of “Purely English Murder”. And yet, according to the actor himself, he arrived on the island as a completely green youth, over whom the entire film crew made fun of.
After The Lord of the Rings, Orlando Bloom became an excellent archer and surfer
A lot was ahead of him: long days of filming in the rather capricious climate of New Zealand, endless archery training, helicopter flights with Viggo Mortensen, hours in the make-up chair – the actor was turned into an elf for 2 hours before each scene.
Orlando Bloom’s transformation into Legolas
After filming ended, Orlando Bloom went to India, and when he returned, he found out what the fruits of success taste like. The premiere of The Fellowship of the Ring has already taken place and the film has become insanely popular, and Orlando’s name entered the top 20 most popular Internet queries, and soon appeared in all kinds of ratings of the sexiest celebrities. The actor even joked that he himself is not loved the way Legolas is loved, because in real life he, dark-haired and brown-eyed, does not look like an elf at all.
The real Orlando doesn’t look like Legolas at all
In the same year, Orlando Bloom, along with Ewan McGregor and Josh Hartnett, took part in the filming of the military drama Black Hawk Down by Ridley Scott. The tragic picture was based on real events (operations of the Americans in Somalia in 1993) and oversaturated with battle scenes. It seemed that Orlando deliberately wanted to get rid of the image of a fragile elf and therefore chose a diametrically opposite character, a shaven-headed recruit soldier. The role came out small, but meaningful.
Shot from the movie “Black Hawk Down”
In 2002 and 2003, Orlando cemented his success as Legolas with work in the final parts of the Lord of the Rings trilogy: The Two Towers and The Return of the King. In 2003, after working on the final scenes, Orlando Bloom was no longer the fledgling kid he was three years ago. But still, he could not hold back tears at parting with Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, Ian McKellen and the rest of the team that created the immortal film masterpiece.
Pirates of the Caribbean
In the same 2003, Orlando Bloom got one of the main roles in another franchise – Pirates of the Caribbean. However, when the actor was approved for the role of Will Turner, neither he nor the producers suspected that the tape they shot would become one of the highest-grossing films in history, her characters would become iconic, and Disneyland would even open a themed attraction in her honor. The film about the adventures of the extravagant Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew grossed about $650 million at the worldwide box office.
Orlando Bloom as Will Turner
This time, Orlando did not have to make up for a long time – he appeared in front of the cameras in all his dark-haired and brown-eyed splendor. But his hero retained the masculinity and devotion of Legolas. He got the experience of working with the eccentric Johnny Depp and, of course, the pleasure of playing paired with Keira Knightley.
The legendary trinity
Return of Legolas
In 2013, Orlando Bloom had to put blue lenses on his eyes again, and a blond wig on his head. Legolas made a grand return in The Hobbit Part 2, a film adaptation of the Lord of the Rings backstory.
Orlando Bloom reprises his role as Legolas in The Hobbit
Make-up artists had to try hard – after all, exactly 10 years have passed since the release of the first part, and time has taken its toll. It would be strange if the immortal elf Legolas looked older in the prequel than in The Lord of the Rings. But as a result of their efforts, Legolas looked much the same as in 2003 – young and beautiful.
Shot from the film “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
At the end of the filming of the third part of The Hobbit, Bloom said that he was glad to forget about Legolas forever. “You can’t even imagine how tired I am of him,” the actor told reporters.
Personal life of Orlando Bloom
For quite a long time, Orlando Bloom, a recognized heartthrob, was in a romantic relationship with American actress Kate Bosworth. Young people met in 2002 through a mutual friend. Having met again at the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, they surrendered to the mercy of passion. The novel lasted until 2006.
Orlando Bloom and Kate Bosworth before their split
The handsome man did not finish his adventures on this. At various times, Bloom was credited with novels with Kirsten Dunst, Uma Thurman, Sienna Miller, Penelope Cruz, Naomie Harris and Jessica Biel. And after Orlando was noticed along with Jennifer Aniston on vacation in Mexico City, they began to talk about their romance.
Young Orlando Bloom was hard to resist
Orlando Bloom has been dating Miranda Kerr since 2007. For a long time she refused an affair with an actor, who had long been entrenched in the reputation of a womanizer, but still gave up under the onslaught of romance. In 2010, they got married, and a year later, their common firstborn, Flynn, was born.
Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr were married
In 2013, after three years of marriage, the star couple broke up. According to the tabloids, the cause was Miranda’s infidelity. The actor survived the gap very painfully. In 2014, he even got into a fight with singer Justin Bieber, who, figuratively speaking, stepped on his sore spot. The young man whispered in Orlando’s ear: “I know your wife. She was hot!
In 2016, Bloom dated singer Katy Perry, but both hid the romance from the public. But it was not possible to hide from the ubiquitous paparazzi for a long time.
In April 2017, the media trumpeted the romance of Orlando Bloom and 28-year-old Nina Dobrev, the star of The Vampire Diaries. “They have known each other for ages, but only recently went beyond the friend zone,” said a source close to the actors at the time.
Orlando Bloom and Nina Dobrev started dating in 2017
However, in August 2017 it became known that the actor returned to Katy Perry. The couple was noticed at an Ed Sheeran concert – they held hands and looked at each other tenderly, and in the spring of 2018, Katie announced their engagement.
Orlando Bloom is a famous Buddhist, vegetarian and animal advocate. During the filming of the film “Kingdom of Heaven” in Morocco, he saved and adopted a stray dog - a cross between a mongrel and a Saluki.
Orlando Bloom’s dog – a “trophy” from the filming
Membership in an environmental organization forced the actor to renovate his house in London – Bloom installed solar panels, began to distribute garbage and disposed of all used light bulbs.
Orlando Bloom and his son Flynn
Orlando Bloom is known as one of the most injured actors in Hollywood. And not all injuries he received during filming. In 1998, Orlando was injured when he was fixing the roof of the terrace with his friend: “I broke my back. I fell out of a window… friends had a skylight in the area right under the apartment, and I rolled down the gutter. He could not stand it, and I flew three floors. I was told that I might not be able to walk again. And then I was operated on, and I left the hospital after about 12 days.” After a fairly short period of time, Bloom got back on his feet and returned to a full life.
At various times, his right arm was broken, his skull was damaged after falling from a tree, his nose was knocked out while playing rugby. While skiing, the actor broke his right leg, and the left suffered the same fate when the actor rode a motorcycle. While snowboarding, Bloom broke his right wrist.
The actor does a lot of charity work, and is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, such as Selena Gomez, Angelina Jolie and Lionel Messi. For example, in 2016 he flew to Ukraine to visit his children.
Orlando Bloom now
2017 was an important turning point for Orlando – on January 13, he celebrated his 40th birthday.
Orlando Bloom turned 40 in 2017
In 2017, the final part of “Pirates of the Caribbean” called “Dead Men Tell No Tales” was released, as well as the spy thriller “Secret Agent”, in which Orlando Bloom and Noomi Rapace played the main roles.
Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean 5
In 2019, the noir fantasy series Carnival Row was released. In addition to Orlando, model and actress Cara Delevingne starred in the serial film, which tells about the relationship between mythical creatures and people.
On August 27, 2024, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom welcomed their daughter.