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Here we'll post as many Orlando articles as we can find, especially ones from Australian sources, which some of you guys mightn't get to see otherwise! If you see an article about Orlando anywhere, email it to us and we'll put it up also.
Orlando Fills the Gap
New Hollywood stars Orlando Bloom (LOTR, Black Hawk Down) and Kate Beckinsdale (Pearl Harbour, Serendipity) are starring in a commercial for the American Clothing Label Gap. The advertisement was directed by Vanilla Sky's Cameron Crowe, and features Orli and Kate acting as a couple who are chased by a crowd of fans. The ad, entitled "Denim Invasion" includes the song Sorry by the Easybeats. Orli himself is no stranger to shopping binges. "Shopping is like therapy," he says. "Clothes are fun!"
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The One Boyfriend
Orli reckons that he's good boyfriend material- and we quite agree! In a recent interview, the handsome British actor was reported as saying "I'm probably a good boyfriend, but I'm pretty intense. When you are with me it's exciting, fun and very intense. At the same time, I'm easygoing. But all that depends on what girl I'm with."
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Pirate Plans
For all those who just can't wait for their next glimpse of Orlando Bloom- good news! The cute actor who played the gorgeous Legolas Greenleaf in the tremendously successful Lord of the Rings, the sweet Private Blackburn in Black Hawk Down, and is soon to be seen as the scruffy Joe Byrne in Ned Kelly, has got another project on the horizon.
Inspired by the Disneyland attraction, The Pirates of the Carribean is being made into a movie, and Orlando has agreed to play the part of Will Turner. "Will Turner is a fellow who hates pirates but discovers an important link to them in his past," explains Director Gore Verbinski. "The film's story includes familiar elements from the ride as well as a supernatural curse, a maiden's rescue, a romance, secret hidden treasure, and finally, a climatic sea battle between the pirates and the British Navy."
Other actors in this movie include Johnny Depp, who plays Captain Jack Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa and Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Swann. Unfortunately for all those diehard Orli fans (like ME!) she'll play the romantic interest of Will Turner.
The status of the movie looks good, with filming set to start on Oct 9th and the release date for the Summer of 2003.
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Boom Boom Bloom! (posted 15/7/02)
This article is from Australian magazine Girlfriend.
Orlando! Go on, admit it, your heart just skipped a beat when you read his name! For a second you even imagined yourself at a church decked out as a beautiful bride and walking down the aisle arm in arm with your dad- Orlando Bloom waiting for you at the alter and flashing you his killer smile. Its luuuuuurve!
Too bad that Orli is too busy pursuing his acting career to settle down. The 25-year-old-actor who once dated actress Joanne Morley is single and, with his mind focussed on acting, it looks set to stay that way. "My career is the most special thing in my life at the moment- and my friends and family. But there's no romance," he smiles. Theres also his bull terrier, Maude, whom Orlando left behind in England for the 18-month Lord of The Rings shoot in New Zealand.
But, as anyone who comes in Orlando's world would know, one of his major passions in life has always been acting. "I got into acting for the women," he laughs. "I dont care much about the money at all. Frankly, if I get the chance to kiss someone in the movie, they wouldn't need to pay me at all!"
Hes joking. But he can thank a girl for nudging him towards acting. "When I was nine I had this girlfriend, and we used to have running races in the park to see who would be her boyfriend for that day. I wanted to be like Superman and rescue her! I had an incredible imagination, and I was always drawn to these larger-than-life characters who I would see either at the theatre, on TV or at the cinema. Once I was old enough to realise that the characters weren't real, that they were actors, I was like 'I can become an actor, and be all of those things.'"
One thing is for certain, whether hes playing an Elf in Lord of The Rings, a gun-toting US soldier in Black Hawk Down or being funny in the upcoming Ali G movie- Orlando has next big thing stamped all over his face.
In the whirlwind of hype that has pushed Orlando into the spotlight during the last year, he has refused to let his sudden fame go to his head. And if that ever did happen, he's certain his family and friends would quickly put a stop to it. Says Orlando: "I've surrounded myself with friends who would physically beat me up if I tried to get above myself. I think I'm incredibly lucky to be doing what I am doing at the moment."
And its not like fame happened overnight, either. Orlando has been plugging away at acting for years, studying at the renowned Guildhall School of Music and Drama. With a small part as a rent-boy in the critically acclaimed 1997 movie Wilde, the movie offers quickly started rolling in, but Orlando turned these down in favour of the theatre, and, for three years, he performed in stage productions like Twelfth Night, The Seagull, and Little Me.
"It's important for an actor to keep doing theatre- it keeps you sharp," he says. And while Orlando is intrigued with movies and film-making for the time being, he says he's not turning his back on theatre. "Film making hasn't lured me away from theatre, but I'm just going to try to ride this wave and then jump onto another one, see how far it goes."
In Full Bloom (posted 16/2/02) This is from the March issue of 'big hit' magazine. Its nothing you haven't heard before, but its still Orlando! I'll hopefully have the pics up in the galleries pretty soon. You'd be forgiven for not recognising Orlando Bloom if you saw him in the street. Sure, you'd think he was good looking... but this guy has short, dark hair! That's right, the long blond hair Orlando has in The Lord of the Rings was a wig, but we reckong he's even hotter with his buzz cut...
Q: You've had a lot of different hairdos like the long blond locks in LOTR and then we've seen you with that mohawk in some photos. What's the deal?
Orlando: It raised my hairline. I got to transform completely in make-up and costume and become Legolas. Then at night, I got to go home with my mohawk. It was great!
Q: What was the hardest thing about playing Legolas?
Orlando: Legolas's moves are smooth and elegant, like a cat. You know how cats can jump and land steadily on their paws? That's what I'm trying to do. There's a strength in that, but its very balletic. It's also bloody hard to do without falling over!
Q: Did you hesitate in taking the role?
Orlando: For a young actor like me to have the opportunity to have 18 months in front of a camera working with Peter Jackson and the kind of calibre of cast and crew was just unheard of. There was never any question of would I or wouldn't I do it? There was just where do I sign for it?! t was just bonkers. It was like winning the lottery - or as close as it gets. It was like, "Here, have a life!"
Q: Is it true that you went surfing, fishing and on road trips together with the hobbits in your free time?
Orlando: Yes. I miss it madly. We sampled everything the country has to offer. The weirdest things to throw yourself off can be found in New Zealand!
Q: You really like New Zealand alot then?
Orlando: It was home. I have a great warm feeling about New Zealand and I'm really tempted to buy some land there, particularly with everything that is going on in the world at the moment, because New Zealand feels like a really safe place to be right now.
Q: What do you think about people recognising you now?
Orlando: I am slightly amazed people are interested in me. But I love talking about it!
Q: You once had a serious accident, right?
Orlando" I broke my back. I fell out of a window... some friends had a roof terrace on the landing below their apartment, and I fell off the drain pipe. It gave way actually, and I fell three floors. I was told I might not walk again. So, for about four days I was contemplating that as a serious part of reality. Then they operated, and I walked out of the hospital in about 12 days. I've always been act first, think later. it can lead to exciting spontaneity - but it was a big wake-up call. I was almost paralysed.
Q: You also play a character with a broken back in Black Hawk Down.
Orlando: I had mentioned I had done that when I was up for the part. Who knows why one actor gets a job and another doesn't? I think it was just good timing that I happened to be there and I had had that experience. I mean, I was lucky.
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Enter the Ring (posted 24/1/02) This is an interview from the January issue of TV Hits. Elijah Wood and Liv Tyler were also interviewed, but i only included the Orlando stuff! Q: This is your first major feature film. What's it like to be part of such a huge film?
Orlando: I'm in shock! Absolute shock! [laughs] Working with such high quality actors, a fantastic director and the crew was incredable. It was a great adventure.
Q: You play an elf in the film. Did playing such a perfect character onscreen rub off on you?
Orlando: Yeah, I was like, "No more coffee!" I started becoming more elvin by drinking herbal tea with lemon. But I didn't go as far as eating nuts and berries!
Q: Did you hang out with all your co-stars while you were off set?
Orlando: When we arrived, I thought we'd need to do something outside of filming the movie to keep ourselves sane.
I suggested we get motorbikes, but the guys weren't into that. They said there was no need to kill ourselves! [laughs] Then i thought about getting mountain bikes because there are all these lovely hills, but we dedcided against that in case we fell off them. Eventually i said to Billy [Boyd, who plays hobbit Pippin Took], "Let's go and buy some surfboards" and he was down with that.
Q: Had you ever surfed before?
Orlando: No! So you can imagine what we looked like down at the beach on the first day with our brand new boards, standing there in our little black wetsuits!
The water was freezing and all these surfers just turned around, giving us filthy looks. We stayed away from them until we got the hang of it. [laughs] We were good by the end of it. And it wasn't long before Elijah [Wood], Viggo [Mortensen] and the other guys were surfing with us.
Q: Did Liv ever join you for a surf?
Orlando: She became one of the lads. She came surfing with us once, I don't know if she actually got on a board, but she was at the beach.
Q: You do some of your own stunts in the film. Did you get any injuries? Orlando: I broke my rib when i fell off a horse during filming. I had the character double for Gimli [a dwarf] on the back of the horse with me and when i tried to pull the horse up we bailed off to the side. When i landed, I hit a rock and he fell on top of me and i cracked a rib.
Q: Is that the worst injury you've ever had?
Orlando: No, two years ago I broke my back when I fell three floors out of a window onto a roof. I was in a wheelchair for four days and was told I would never walk again. Two years later I'm playing one of the most physical characters in 'The Lord of the Rings,' which is surreal!
Q: How would you explain 'The Lord of the Rings' to someone who has never read the books?
Orlando: 'he Lord of the Rings' is a great adventure. At the end of the day, whether you've read the books or not, it's a beautiful story and a great adventure. You're going to buy a ticket to check out a piece of that.
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In Full Bloom (posted 23/1/02) Here is an article from this weeks issue of the Australian mag New Weekly. In it, Orlando talks about a bunch of things, from getting the role of Legolas to his penchant for adrenaline rushes! (hopefully we can scan in the pic that went with the article some time soon, keep checking! Orlando Bloom will never forget picking up the phone to hear the good news. "When my agent told me I had the job, I was screaming down the phone! Oh my god - I was totally over-excited! It was too much," recalls the actor who plays elf warrior Legolas in 'The Lord of the Rings.'
"Not only was it my first job, but it is THE anticipated movie of the year! This whole job, can you believe it? I still can't believe that anyone is even interested in what i have to say!"
The 25-year-old British-born actor had just finished a degree at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama when the producers of LOTR spied his audition tape. "Suddenly I have my own toy," Bloom says, shaking his head in disbelief. "Its totally wicked."
As you can imagine, the inexperienced actor was quite overwhelmed to be performing alongside Cate Blancett, Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood, but he threw himself into the role, learning to horse-ride, do archery and master the language of Elvish. "The archery stuff was two months of training," he says. "My first line of dialogue in the movie is in Elvish, and, believe me, thats a hard thing to get your mouth around," he says.
The actor looks totally different these days, with his short, dark hair and dark eyes covered up in the film by blue contacts and a blonde wig, but he says its great because he's anonymous.
Bloom relished living in New Zealand for LOTR, throwing himself into surfing, snowboarding and bungee jumping with his fellow cast members throughout the 18-month shoot. "Bungee jumping was great man," he enthuses. "I did, like, five in a row. I was like, doing-doing!"
Now single, Bloom admits he did find it hard to be separated from his girlfriend at the time. "It's very difficult to keep a relationship going when you're not in the same country. Right now, the only thing I'm in a big relationship with is my work."
Bloom, who is inundated with scripts, will next appear in 'Black Hawk Down' with Ewan McGregor and Eric Bana. "I play a ranger who's fresh off the boat, as it were. Like it is for me in real life." |
