Orlando Bloom - Hottest Adventurer

AGE: 25.

HOMETOWN: Canterbury, England.

HEAT FACTOR: Maybe you've heard of it--a little movie called The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, in which Orlando was almost unrecognizable as the platinum-locked elf Legolas. He followed that up with a role in Black Hawk Down.

PASSIONS: Extreme sports like surfing and snow boarding--"things that give me an adrenaline kick."

MIRACLE WORKER: A year before filming started on The Lord of the Rings, Orlando broke his back when he fell three stories from a window. "They didn't think I would walk again, and 12 days later, I walked out of the hospital on crutches. My back is a reminder of how lucky I am."

TATTOOS: Two. The Elvish symbol for nine--the entire Lord of the Rings fellowship got them--on his forearm and a tiny sun below his belly button. "You have to be quite serious about tattoos [because] they're there forever."

UP NEXT: The Kelly Gang with Heath Ledger and the next two installments of The Lord of the Rings (December 2002 and 2003). "For me, the second and third books were more exciting. You'll have some great battle sequences."

THE LAST WORD: "I like films that have integrity and a great story. But I also see myself doing comedy because I think people find me amusing. I can be a bit geeky, which is what people don't expect."