Bloom with a view

Today, once he has finished with the ladies and gentlemen of the press, Orlando Bloom will find himself at a loose end. And he, for one, couldn’t look happier about it.

“For the first time in eight years, I’m not moving straight into another movie,” he says.
“I’m really excited about that. For once, I can think about what I want my real life to be like.”
He’s already in holiday form. Staring out the window of the Mandarin Hotel, he gestures toward nearby Regent’s Park where a friend is walking his precious dog Sidi.
“I told him once around the lake then back again,” he smiles wistfully.
The lucky canine, a stray found during the filming of Kingdom Of Heaven, is – given his on-off relationship with Kate Bosworth – the 30-year-old star’s most constant companion.
“I have to bring him everywhere,” he says. “I don’t like him flying for 12 hours but I love having him around. And he’s used to jetting around by now.”
There is something endearingly not-quite-grown-up about Orlando Bloom. He’s a boy with a dog. His cheekbones would sit easily in McFly or their modern day equivalent. He’s suited to playing fairy-folk. I suddenly remember two years ago when he couldn’t make it to the London interviews for Elizabethtown, his mum dropped off homemade fanzines for the press. It was really sweet, though it makes you wonder if he still gets packed lunches.
That boyishness is, of course, an essential component of the Bloom appeal. Google his name and you’ll find a million internet shrines maintained by adoring teenage girls. These keen Orlandologists seem to know every meaningless detail. He has three A-levels and is mildly dyslexic. His favourite vegetable is spinach. His cousin, the photographer/director Sebastian Copeland, is Brigitte Nielsen’s ex-husband. And so on.
Mr. Bloom, however, is keen to edge away from the factoid gathering hordes.
“I don’t concern myself with that stuff,” he says, shifting slightly with embarrassment. “I want to be other things. You have to look at Leonardo DiCaprio. After Titanic, he’s a pin-up all over the world. It took him a couple of roles but he found a place he was comfortable in. And then he developed the relationship with Scorsese and really took off as an actor. He’s a great guy and we’ve talked about this. Like that, I’m told I’m a pin-up guy so then people think maybe that’s all I’m capable of.”
I wonder if he’s also sought advice from Johnny Depp, his Pirates Of The Caribbean co-star and another noted teen-idol survivor.
“Oh yeah,” he says. “Johnny has made a career out of making movies that were considered failures but he’s still the biggest movie star in the world. But it’s like I’m his opposite in some ways. He waits until later on to become huge. With me, I’m a movie star right out of school. It’s time I did some small, socially aware projects.”
Try as he may, Mr. Bloom seems unable to extricate himself from big hitters at the box-office. While still attending the Guildford school of Music and Drama, he landed a small role as a rent boy in the 1997 film Wilde. That was nothing. Shortly after graduating in 1999, Bloom was cast as Legolas in The Lord of the Rings. Since then, he’s chalked up two swords-and-sandals extravaganzas (Kingdom Of Heaven and Troy) and wandered into a second trilogy.
“We made one Pirates Of The Caribbean movie and they spun it out to three,” he says. “I feel like I’ve been doing a pirate movie for most of my adult life.”
Pirates Of The Caribbean; At World’s End, the final part of the trilogy, hits cinemas later this month. It’s hard to imagine that Orlando Bloom won’t have another monster hit on his hands. Between them the previous films have grossed $1.6 billion, making him the only actor to appear in two out of the three movies that crossed the billion mark.
“The commitment has been great – all-consuming,” he says. “You’re not free. But this is the end of the trilogy. Well, I think it’s the close of a particular chapter. They won’t be extending this story. It’s definitely done.”
He checks his relish for forthcoming leisure time.
“I’ve been very, very lucky to be involved,” he adds.
It’s certainly true that Orlando Bloom has been lucky both professionally and personally. In 1998, he broke his back in a three-story fall, and it was feared that he would never walk again.
“When they said I mightn’t walk I just thought ‘no’,” he tells me. “That’s somebody else. But it’s not me. I was trying to get onto a roof terrace. It was really dumb. But I had this pretty miraculous recovery. I walked out of there on crutches after twelve weeks. That’s why I don’t take things too seriously. By rights, I should be in a wheelchair.”
Is that when he got into Buddhism, I wonder?
“No, that was before,” he says. “A guy introduced me when I was 17 and I thought it made a lot of sense. It works in my life. There’s a lot to learn but there’s no question mark over it in my mind.”
If, however, we take his turn in Ricky Gervais’ Extras at face value, then he’s a narcissistic poseur obsessed with Johnny Depp. Is that any way to get to the Noble Eightfold Path?
“I know,” says Orlando. “Before I said ‘yes’ I sent the script to Johnny and asked him, 'Are you okay with this?' He loved it. He’s really into British comedy. He’s appeared on The Fast Show and stuff. So he thought it was a work of genius.”
So what next for the young gentleman with time on his hands?
“I’m an actor, so I love working,” he says. “But I’d love to do something really meaningful like The Last King Of Scotland or Hotel Rwanda or The Constant Gardener. I don’t want to start talking all actor-y like I have my head up my arse. I also like doing things with irreverence. There’s an aspect of me that’s just like Warren Beatty in Shampoo.”
Then he laughs.
“But I bet the next movie I do will end up being a trilogy. With bows and arrows and swords.”
Pirates Of The Caribbean 3: At World’s End is released May 24.