Working on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was like playing as a kid for Orlando Bloom. The film's swordfights and ship battles reminded him of the movies he used to watch as a kid.

"Those pirate movies were always on on a Sunday afternoon," Bloom said. "I could watch those pirate movies and enjoy them and stuff. I watched 'The Master of Ballantrae'. Pirate stories are great, boat to boat battles, swinging on ropes, and swords and fighting."

Some of "Pirates'" precarious situations had Bloom hanging from a sail and standing up on a mast. "There was a rig. They swung me out there. I was there hanging, but I had something attached like a harness. That was pretty uncomfortable. I'm not sure how dangerous it was because I was rigged, but it was really uncomfortable. You know when I am standing up and I say, 'I am Will Turner' and stuff, that was kind of because I could have fallen back into the sea, and I wasn't rigged there, and it was wet and slippery."

The biggest surprise to Bloom on the film was seeing Johnny Depp's interpretation of his character. Staggering around wide eyed, Bloom barely knew what to make of his costar. "It did not read like that on the page. He takes the character that reads almost like your average swashbuckling pirate and he creates a magical, hilarious, f*cking drunkard sea legged, Keith Richard type number on it. He just amazes me. He was so courageous with that role. It could have been [bad]. It's a Disney movie. He just put himself out there. It could have just gone all wrong. But he just bit the bullet and took it all the way home."

Seeing that type of bravado was inspiring to a young actor like Bloom. "He has been a guideline. As a young actor, I think any young actor, any actor of my generation will tell you the same thing. Look at Johnny Depp and you go there's a guy who just probably one of the best looking guys on the screen and manages to morph in the characters he plays and become a completely different person. There's a lot of talented actors out there doing that, but he's cool. He is Johnny Depp."

Bloom is also impressed with Depp's modesty, comparing him to his Troy costar, Brad Pitt, and more. "It is beautiful. His modesty is what makes him, and it is what is so inspiring for me to witness first-hand. It is the same with Brad actually, they are similar like that, very gracious. Actually, a lot of people I've worked with, Viggo was insane, Viggo was an incredible role model for me, I did a lot of work with him. I've been really lucky to fall under some incredible role models and hope I can be the same."

Bloom did go back to New Zealand one more time for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. "I went back for the third movie for the third and final time. Pete wanted to do something with Leggy that he had kind of done in the first two. I had these little moments when I am running over the back of the cave troll, or in the second one, sliding down the stairs. He had an idea that he wanted to combine all of that and create a really great moment for Leggy. So we shot that."

And on his Troy role, Bloom said, "I play Paris. He is kind of the anti-hero, the guy who's created the mess that then has to be cleared up. His love for Helen creates a world of pain for everyone else. I wanted to go for the role because I thought it's not the obvious hero that Will is or that Legolas turns out to be. He's an impulsive young man whose thoughtless behavior and love creates a terrible situation. The challenge to me was to try and still find the human element to that character, and human story, and make him still have something that the audience could relate to and understand and is somewhat likeable, but his arc as well is one that realizes what he's done by the end."

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl opens July 9, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King opens in December and Troy opens next year.