PEOPLE: As an actor, Bloom is still growing
After starring in two megasized Hollywood trilogies that have taken him from unknown to A-list (“Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Lord of the Rings”), Orlando Bloom is walking away from movies – temporarily.
“It’s been an incredible ride,” says Bloom, 30. “And it’s been wonderful but I’m sort of psyched to do something completely different.”
Hence, he’s returning to the theater – the London stage, to be exact, to appear in David Storey‘s play, “In Celebration.”
Sailing straight from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama into Hollywood’s spotlight was “huge” and “surreal,” he says, an experience that moved him “to go back to the beginning, as if I’ve just come out of school again.”
In his early days, Bloom joined London’s National Youth Theatre and won a scholarship to train with the British Drama Academy. But his first job after graduation made him a movie star: the brave elf Legolas in “Lord of the Rings.”
Since then, he’s become a heartthrob, one of People magazine’s “Hottest Bachelors” and “50 Most Beautiful.”
At the “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” premiere at Disneyland recently, some female fans had painted their faces and T-shirts with “I love Orlando Bloom.”
He shrugs that off, saying his mother and sister tease him endlessly about his sex-symbol status – then stretching his arms overhead to reveal a perfectly toned stomach with a tiny sun tattoo.
“He could be this generation’s Errol Flynn. No doubt in my mind,” says “Pirates” producer Jerry Bruckheimer. “He’s handsome, he’s debonair, he’s a good actor, he’s got a great smile. … He’s got the talent, so it comes down to what he picks and the directors and people he works with.”
Bloom’s burgeoning clout has already brought opportunities, from Ridley Scott‘s “Kingdom of Heaven” and Cameron Crowe‘s “Elizabethtown” to the chance to return to the stage.
“I’m looking forward to continuing working on movies and making choices that excite me, and right now that is doing some theater,” he says, though he expects to be “rather terrified.”
“Actors don’t really get into their stride until they’re in their late 30s and 40s. … So when I think of the bigger picture, I’ve got a long road ahead and I think it’s going to be important for me as an actor to work on my craft in this way.”
One arena where Bloom is taking on a more prominent role is environmental activism. He recently returned from a trip to Antarctica, where he “shared a bathroom and a toilet with 27 other guys,” along with dishwashing and laundry duties.
“It can be all doom and gloom when one talks about the environment … like the ice caps are melting and everything’s gone to custard, but the truth is that’s not the case,” he says.
“Life is about balance, and we all have to make the effort in areas that we can to enable us to make a difference.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Christopher Lee is 85. Actress Lee Meriwether is 72. Musician Ramsey Lewis is 72. Actor Louis Gossett Jr. is 71. Actress Peri Gilpin (“Frasier”) is 46. Actor Todd Bridges (“Diff’rent Strokes”) is 42. Rapper Andre 3000 (Outkast) is 32. Rapper Jadakiss is 32.