Orlando Bloom talks to Tim Nasson about Will Turner
Beverly Hills – Orlando Bloom, just shy of his thirtieth birthday, has already appeared in four of the highest grossing movies of all time – as Legolas in the “Lord of the Rings Trilogy” and as Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean – and is currently headlining, with Johnny Depp and Keira Knightly, the second in a planned trilogy of “Pirates,” which will undoubtedly add to his ever growing worldwide popularity.
I sat with Bloom at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills last fall, while he was taking a break from filming the second and third “Pirate” films in the Bahamas. “One of those hurricanes nearly washed away our set,” he says, not really worried about the film getting back on track. “But with the money Disney has and their need to have the movies in theaters sooner than later, I am sure we will be back at work very soon.”
And they were. The second “Pirates,” officially titled “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” is now in theaters and Bloom is currently wrapping up work on the third, due in theaters next summer – “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
Orlando Bloom, who was once one of People Magazine’s Sexiest Beings, grew up in Kent, England, and talks with a British accent. However, he is now not only a household name with preteens, who have his posters plastered on their walls, but his name is also commonly slipping off the tongues of their older siblings, and parents and grandparents, alike.
The fact that he is currently dating “Superman Returns” star Kate Bosworth (Lois Lane), doesn’t seem to bother his fan base. “Girls, no matter where I go, giggle and point, as if I am some high school star soccer player or something,” he laughs, keeping his fame in stride. “But I like my privacy,” he adds, “and try not to make too much of a spectacle of myself. I save that for the big screen.”
Outfitted in a pair of blue jeans, black shoes, a brown long sleeved, pullover silk shirt, rolled up just enough for one to notice the tattoo on his right arm, “It’s the rings from ‘Lord of the Rings,'” he informs, nonchalantly, and pretty much in “Pirates” attire; with a full nest of brown, curly hair, pulled back in a pony tail, and a tuft of brown hair on his chin and otherwise smooth face, is eager to talk.
“In the second ‘Pirates’ movie, my character goes from being a straight-laced bore to becoming more of a pirate, thankfully. It was sort of like discovering my inner pirate for the first time,” says Bloom, laughing.
In “Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) discovers he owes a blood debt to the legendary Davey Jones (Bill Nighy), Captain of the ghostly Flying Dutchman. Time is running out and Jack must find a way out of debt or be doomed to eternal hell in the afterlife. To add insult to injury, Sparrow’s problems manage to interfere with the wedding plans of Bloom’s Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), who are forced to join Jack on yet another misadventure.
“I have fulfilled my childhood fantasies during my acting career, playing larger than life characters. I have played an elf, a knight, a soldier, a prince. But I never dreamed of being a pirate, even as a lad. Making ‘Pirates’ was a great opportunity to work with some great people, [Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley.]”
Bloom is currently finishing the third Pirates film and doesn’t feel quite so exhausted shooting the second and third back to back. “I never thought after doing the three ‘Lord of the Rings’ back to back (yes, all three), that I would ever end up in another trilogy, let alone of that magnitude, again. But having already done ‘Lord of the Rings’ made doing the ‘Pirates’ sequels back to back a cinch. ‘Pirates” is an ensemble movie. I don’t have as much screen time in them as I did in ‘Lord of the Rings.’ But it was a challenge, still, because you’ve got the arc of two movies to cover. You can shoot a scene from the second movie in the morning and the third movie in the afternoon and trying to remember where your character is emotionally at that point in the scenes can be a bit challenging. You have to play the truth of the moment and the writers have created great stories and characters.”
Later this summer, on the big screen for Bloom, is a little movie, “Haven,” which he finished filming two years ago on the Cayman Islands. “It’s this crazy, kooky little movie directed by a twenty four year old kid, Frank E. Flowers. It’s really a hard movie to describe. It’s independent, action, mystery, but not really. The movie was a lot of fun to make and I am very proud of it and can’t wait until it gets a theatrical release. But it is not easy getting financing for movies that have not already been financed by a huge studio.”
In a nutshell, “Haven” tells the story of two shady businessmen (Bill Paxton and Stephen Dillane) who flee to the Cayman Islands to avoid federal prosecution. But their escape ignites a chain reaction that leads a British native (Bloom) to commit a crime that changes the nation.
In addition, Bloom appears on a four-disc Director’s Cut of Ridley Scott’s “Kingdom Of Heaven” which was just released on DVD. “I can’t wait to see that,” says Bloom. “I loved working with Ridley Scott and hope I can again in the future.”
There is also “Elizabethtown,” now on DVD, which proves that Bloom can speak with an American accent. In the Cameron Crowe film he costars with “SpiderMan’s” flame, Kirsten Dunst.
Will there be a fourth “Pirates,” perhaps “Of The Atlantic?”
“Ha, ha,” laughs Bloom. “Very funny, but, with Disney, you never know. Let’s see how the second and third do. If they audiences love them, there is no telling how many more there could be.” Maybe even with Bloom as the star, if Depp gets killed off. Hint, hint.
