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Born on January 13th 1977 in Canterbury, England, Orlando Bloom's plans of becoming an actor developed quite early when he realized that the characters on TV and in the movies weren't real, that they were actors. "Once I realized that I could be Superman or I could be The Hustler or I could be Daniel Day Lewis's character in The Last Of The Mohicans - I was like, "Man, I can become an actor and be all of those things." In 1993, he moved to London to improve his career, doing bit parts in TV series like "Casualty". Orlando spent two years at the National Youth Theatre before getting a scholarship to train with the British American Drama Academy. His first memorable appearance, a cameo in the critically acclaimed movie Wilde in 1997, earned him various film offers, which he all turned down in favor to play theatre. After Wilde, Orlando attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for 3 years. On stage, he appeared in plays like "The Seagull", "Twelfth Night", and "Trojan Women". Peter Jackson then "discovered" the classically handsome Bloom for his much hyped Lord Of The Rings trilogy in 1999. After doing the three Rings movies with Jackson, he worked with Ridley Scott on Black Hawk Down. Since then, he has been working on new projects non-stop. 2003 saw the release of The Kelly Gang, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and The Return of the King. In 2004, Troy, The Calcium Kid, and Haven will be released. In 2004 he began filming his first starring role in a major production, Kingdom of Heaven, again with Ridley Scott. He will also play the lead in Elizabethtown, directed by Cameron Crowe. A sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean is also planned to start filming in January 2005. When he's not working, Orlando divides his time between London and Los Angeles.
- His birth date is January 13, 1977, making him 27 years old.
- His nicknames are Orli and OB.
- He has brown hair and brown eyes.
- He's around 5'11" (180 cm)
- He's not married.
- He used to smoke, but quit in 2002, which caused him to start biting his nails instead.
- While filming Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, he got into sky diving, bungee jumping, paragliding, surfing and snowboarding. Now he enjoys "just taking time to walk whether it be on location somewhere or on a beach." "most of the time I just chill with my friends and have a mellow time" He also enjoys photography, shopping and buying old antiques, and he "can't stand computers".
- He says he's accident prone, and has the injury list to prove it. He's broken his back, his ribs, his nose, both his legs, his arm, his wrist, a finger and a toe, and cracked his skull three times!
- A year before doing the Lord of the Rings, he fell 3 stories off a friend's porch while trying to open a jammed door and broke his back. He was almost confined to a wheelchair, but luckily the doctors were able to patch him up. Read more about his fall here.
- His sister Samantha is 2 years older than him.
- He had a dog named Maude but had to give her up because of work. He may have a new dog!
- His father, Harry Bloom, died when Orlando was 4 and was a legendary figure in antiapartheid circles in South Africa. Harry also wrote a famous tome called Episode In The Transvaal, was jailed for his beliefs, and worked alongside Nelson Mandela. Orlando and his sister were raised by their mother, Sonia, and a guardian, Colin Stone. When Orlando was 13, his mother told him that Harry was not his biological father, that Colin was.
- Has a tattoo of 'nine' in Elvish on his right forearm, and a sun on his torso that he got when he was 15.
- He can speak French.
- He has 3 A levels, two at grade A (one was art and sculpture - he is particularly good at sculpture and pottery and art), one at A level for Photography, and one at Grade C which was Religious Studies. He also has 8 'O' levels and has a BA (Hons) Drama degree from Guildhall School of Music and Drama - so he is Orlando Bloom BA (Hons).
- As a kid, he was dyslexic, and now he says he is "mildly dyslexic".
- He says he's currently into "all sorts of music, mostly the Ben Harper, the David Gray, and the Bob Dylan type of folk music."
- For LOTR, he had to learn archery, how to ride a horse bareback (while shooting an arrow), and how to fight and wield two swords. "I started off with archery, I rode about 20 different horses, I had physical training in the gym, and I had to learn the Elvish ways of speaking and fighting. Their fighting is based on ancient European and Asian martial arts, so I had a trainer who taught me how to use the blades. I also did a lot of movement training, because movement is my way into the character." - SFX Magazine
- He originally auditioned for Lord of the Rings in the part of Faramir, Boromir's brother, who wouldn't be introduced until The Two Towers. But Peter thought he would be perfect for Legolas instead. Orlando learned that he got the part the day before he graduated from Guildhall.
- He wears a replica of the One ring that says "To wherever it may lead." It was given to him by one of the make-up artists on LOTR.
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