| Forgive Orlando Bloom, but he's still reeling.Three years ago he was a student at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama,just days away from graduation,when he won the role of a 2,931 year old elf named Legolas in the hottest project in Holly-wood,the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.The next thing he knew,the boy from Canterbury,England,who got his start reciting poetry at local arts festivals,was jetting off to New Zealand for 18 months of filming on the mystical epic with the whole process shrouded in secrecy."We weren't allowed to take photographs(of ourselves)," Orlando recalls."I would have to wear a hooded jacket in the car on the way to the set and home everyday too if i still had the elf ears on." The first installment,The Fellowship Of The Ring, catapulted Orlando to unexpected screen-idol status.And this month's Lord of the rings:The Two Towers,in which hobbits Frodo and Sam journey on to Mordor while Legolas and the rest of the gang fight evil forces at Helm's Deep,is sure to keep him there."Im constantly bewildered at the actuality of being in that movie,"says orlando,25."Im overwhelmed by it." These days he has a bounty of choice roles coming his way.Next up,Otlando's an outlaw in the movie The Kelly Gang,co-starring heath Ledger."it was an all boys-thing",Orlando says,"riding around on horses with guns." Then he has to cope with another ring- the boxing kind-for a British comedy called The calcium Kid."i play a working-mans hero,a young guy who is a milkman,but he also boxes," says Orlando,who's now in training for the role."i drink alot of milk." There is a downside to this kind of sucess:Orlando's so popular now that people want to gossip about him and pass around wrong information on the web,which strikes him as very strange. To set the record straight ,he insists his idol is NOT Superman("I've been trying to live down this story forever") and he didnt start acting to pick up chicks("Rubbish,"he says." i liked to perform from an early age") Orlando hopes to have his own site up soon to help squash the rumors. Until then,know this:He puts family first,living in Canterbury,where his mother runs a language school for foreign students(his dad died when Orlando was four),and he's in love with dog Maude.As for his romantic life,his last big relationship fell apart while he was making The Lord Of The Rings.Still,Orlando's not giving up on love."when you start falling for somebody and you cant stop thinking about when your gonna see them again,i love that," he says."Women are beautiful.They deserve to be Cherised and respected".And he adds with a laugh,"They're a handful." |