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Fast Chat Orlando Bloom from Newsday.com, February 10, 2002
BRITISH actor Orlando Bloom, 25, doesn't say much in "Lord of the
Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," but he carries a big quiver. As the archer
elf Legolas, Bloom fends off danger, protects Frodo and builds himself a major
fan base, mostly among young women. While Legolas fans wait for the next movie
in the "Ring" trilogy in December, they can catch Bloom - minus his blond elf
wig - as a soldier in "Black Hawk Down." Wearing clogs, an elf tattoo and an air
of amiability, Bloom met with freelance writer Susan Stewart to discuss the
magical world of the "Ring" and the changes the movie has made in his own
world.
So how does it feel to be called "the sexy
elf?"
I'll take it. It sounds good to me.
In "The
Fellowship of the Ring," you wore a long blond wig. Do blondes have more
fun?
Certainly as that blonde, as Legolas, I did. It was probably the
best experience of my life.
Do you remember when you learned you
had the part?
It was a moment in time that is forever crystallized for
me. My agent called and she said, "I've got some news. You've been offered 'The
Lord of the Rings.'" I was over the moon.
As Legolas, your quiver
is always full of arrows, no matter how many Orcs and trolls you've hit. Where
do you get them? Is it magic?
We did shoot a sequence where I'm pulling
arrows out of dead bodies, but it's not in the finished film.
Is
Cate Blanchett [who plays the elf Queen] a good kisser?
I never kissed
her.
Yeah, we know. That was a trick question. Any romance on the
set?
No. I hung out with Liv Tyler a lot. I didn't kiss her, either. But
I was always lobbying for love scenes between Legolas and
Arwen.
You lived in New Zealand for 18 months. How did you spend
your time?
Well, I had a great house. The address was really cool: Marine
Parade, Sea Town. The sea was right there. You could almost spit in it. The
Hobbits and I went surfing all the time.
Wasn't that a funny
sight, this tall guy surfing with tiny people?
Well, the Hobbits aren't
that short in real life. They're 5'6" or 5'7".
Less room for
tattoos. You have three, we've heard.
Only two. This one is the sun. ...
I got it when I was 15. Then there's this .
Please explain your
hair.
Well, I like the Mohawk feeling, where you have a fin sort of
effect. It's easy - just a little gel.
How about all that stuff
around your neck?
Well, here's an Orlando stone. It was given to me by a
girlfriend. And here's a paua shell from New Zealand. I travel to all these
different countries. I like to take a little bit with me.
Who
feeds your dog in London while you're traveling?
My ex-girlfriend's
family. They have got Maude now.
Ex-girlfriend?
Yeah. She
was a really big love. It's sad. I don't know what happened.
Was
it the separation while you were making "Lord of the Rings"?
Well, she
spent seven months with me in New Zealand and then two more. We tried, but we
didn't know how to handle it.
So that's it for
romance?
Now, my only relationship is with my work.
That
sounds so melancholy.
Well, that's life. People come into your life and
people leave it. I have quite a sort of philosophical view on it. Certain things
happen for a reason. You just have to trust that life has a road mapped out for
you.
Your own road map has a major bump in it: You broke your
back a few years ago. How did that happen?
I was trying to get on some
friends' roof terrace [in London] to kick in a warped door. I stepped on a piece
of gutter. It didn't hold.
Had you been having some wee
drinkies?
No, we'd just had a big Sunday lunch, no excessive drinking.
But I was rushing through life, missing the point and having a bit too much
fun.
How seriously were you hurt?
For four days they
didn't think I would walk again. ... I actually had a miraculous recovery. I
walked out in 12 days, pinned and plated. It refocused me, made me really
appreciate life.
Doesn't your character [a private] in "Black
Hawk Down" have a similar experience?
Yes, he falls out of a helicopter,
this young green soldier anxious to fight. After I had my fall, I was in
hospital lying right next to a young soldier with a paralyzing injury. It's
surreal how life has these patterns.
It's surreal how much has
happened to you in 25 years.
You certainly can't say I haven't lived.
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