Orlando Bloom



Orlando Bloom is an English actor born in Canterbury (Kent) on January 13, 1977. He rose to prominence in the role of Legolas in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and later with Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. While Bloom is most closely associated with his status as a heartthrob and as "the guy with the sword" in summer blockbusters, he has a diverse resume of roles in both mainstream and independent productions.

Outside the movies, one of the roles associated with Bloom is that of a survivor. At the age of 19, he fell three stories from the roof of an apartment building in London, resulting in a broken back. Despite doctors' fears that he would never walk again, he made a full recovery.

He is also known for his charity work and environmental activism with such organizations as UNICEF and Global Green. In 2007, he traveled to Antarctica with his cousin, photographer and Global Green co-founder Sebastian Copeland, to see first hand the effects of climate change. He wrote the foreword to Copeland's 2008 book Antarctica: A Call to Action.

In 2010, Bloom married Australian model and businesswoman Miranda Kerr and in 2011 they welcomed their first child, a son named Flynn Christopher.

Film:

 * Wilde (1997): Rent Boy
 * Black Hawk Down (2001): PFC Todd Blackburn
 * Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003): Legolas
 * Ned Kelly (2003): Joe Byrne
 * Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy (2003-2007): Will Turner
 * The Calcium Kid (2004): Jimmy Connolly
 * Troy (2004): Paris
 * Haven (2004): Shy
 * Kingdom of Heaven (2005): Balian of Ibelin
 * Elizabethtown (2005): Drew Baylor
 * Love and Other Disasters (2006): Hollywood Paolo
 * New York, I Love You (segment "Shunji Iwai) (2009): David
 * Sympathy for Delicious (completed 2010): The Stain
 * Main Street (completed 2010): Harris Parker
 * The Good Doctor (completed 2010): Dr. Martin Ploeck
 * Fight For Your Right: Revisited (2011): Johnny Ryall
 * The Three Musketeers 2011: Duke of Buckingham
 * The Hobbit (2012): Legolas
 * The Laureate (in production): Robert Graves
 * Cities (pre-production): as yet unnamed character
 * Zulu (pre-production): Brian Epkeen

Television:

 * Casualty (1994-1996): various roles
 * Midsomer Murders (2000): Peter Drinkwater
 * Extras (2007): Himself

Theater:

 * 'In Celebration'' (2007): Steven Shaw

Tropes Associated with Bloom:

 * Badass: After falling three stories from the roof of a London apartment building and breaking his back, he not only defied doctors' fears that he would be paralyzed, but he recovered in record time and went on to appear in highly physical film roles.
 * Bishonen/Biseinen: This was a HUGE factor in his first major role. They needed someone beautiful to play an elf.
 * Brown Eyes
 * Deadpan Snarker: Has quite a sarcastic sense of humour and is usually to first to laugh about himself.
 * Even the Guys Want Him: Craig Ferguson has admitted to having a man crush on him during a few of his show's opening monologues.
 * He Really Can Act: He has recently begun receiving positive critical attention for his acting in newer films, whereas during the height of his fame he was more or less the critics' Butt Monkey.
 * Mr. Fanservice: Plays this role in most of his movies.
 * Playing Against Type: after becoming known for playing mostly pristine heroes with swords (although this is not the limit of his catalog of roles), he plays a skeevy wannabe rock star and a devious, petulant English nobleman in the upcoming Sympathy for Delicious and The Three Musketeers, respectively.
 * Rule of Awesome: Why he does most of his roles.
 * What Could Have Been: He reportedly turned down the lead role in the live action Prince of Persia film. The role eventually went to Jake Gyllenhall.