Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom (born January 13, 1977) is an English actor.
He rose to prominence with the role of Legolas in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy and later with Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean series; between that and Kingdom of Heaven and Three Musketeers, he can fairly be called "King of Costume Dramas". While Bloom is most closely associated with his status as a heartthrob and as "the guy with the sword" in summer blockbusters, he has a diverse resume of roles in both mainstream and independent productions.
Outside the movies, one of the roles associated with Bloom is that of a survivor. At the age of 19, he fell three stories from the roof of an apartment building in London, resulting in a broken back. Despite doctors' fears that he would never walk again, he made a full recovery.
He is also known for his charity work and environmental activism with such organizations as UNICEF and Global Green. In 2007, he traveled to Antarctica with his cousin, photographer and Global Green co-founder Sebastian Copeland, to see first hand the effects of climate change. He wrote the foreword to Copeland's 2008 book Antarctica: A Call to Action.
Bloom was married to model Miranda Kerr from 2010 to 2013. They have a son named Flynn Christopher. He's currently engaged to singer Katy Perry. They have a daughter named Daisy Dove.
Filmography:
- Wilde (1997): Rent Boy
- Black Hawk Down (2001): PFC Todd Blackburn
- The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003): Legolas
- The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
- The Two Towers (2002)
- The Return of the King (2003)
- Ned Kelly (2003): Joe Byrne
- Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-2017): Will Turner
- The Calcium Kid (2004): Jimmy Connolly
- Troy (2004): Paris
- Haven (2004): Shy
- Kingdom of Heaven (2005): Balian of Ibelin
- Elizabethtown (2005): Drew Baylor
- Love and Other Disasters (2006): Hollywood Paolo
- New York, I Love You (segment "Shunji Iwai) (2009): David
- Sympathy for Delicious (completed 2010): The Stain
- Main Street (completed 2010): Harris Parker
- Fight For Your Right: Revisited (2011): Johnny Ryall
- The Three Musketeers (2011): Duke of Buckingham
- The Good Doctor (2011): Dr. Martin Blake
- The Hobbit Trilogy (2013-2014): Legolas
- The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
- The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
- Zulu (2014): Brian Epkeen
- Digging for Fire (2015): Ben
- Unlocked (2017): Jack Alcott
- Tour de Pharmacy (2017) as JuJu Pepi
- The Outpost (2020) as Captain Keating
- Gran Turismo (2023) as Danny Moore
Television:
- CASUAL+Y (1994-1996): Noel Harrison
- Midsomer Murders (2000): Peter Drinkwater
- Extras (2007): Himself
- Easy (2016): Tom
- Carnival Row (2019 - 2023): Rycroft Philostrate ("Philo")
- The Prince (2021): Prince Harry (voice role)
Theater:
- In Celebration (2007): Steven Shaw
- Romeo and Juliet (2013): Romeo
- Killer Joe (2018): Joe Cooper
Tropes Associated with Bloom:
- Awesome, Dear Boy: Why he does most of his roles.
- Creator Backlash: He'd for some time made it bluntly clear that he was done with his Pirates of the Caribbean character Will Turner, and did not return for the fourth installment, but later had a change of heart and chose to return to the franchise.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: A male example—off-camera, Bloom's apparently a bit of a klutz.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has quite a sarcastic sense of humor and is usually to first to laugh about himself.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Craig Ferguson has admitted to having a man crush on him during a few of his show's opening monologues.
- Funny Character, Boring Actor: Inverted. While Bloom's most famous roles are of stoic, serious heroes, watch any commentary or interview behind-the-scenes with him and the man comes off as very energetic and jovial, often joking with the cast and crew.
- Mr. Fanservice: Plays this role in most of his movies.
- Older Than They Look: He reprised his role as Legolas 10 years after Lord of the Rings ended and you barely see a difference.
- Playing Against Type: After becoming known for playing mostly pristine heroes with swords (although this is not the limit of his catalog of roles), he plays a skeevy wannabe rock star and a devious, petulant English nobleman in Sympathy for Delicious and The Three Musketeers, respectively.
- Playing Hamlet : In a Broadway performance, the 37 year old Bloom played Romeo. Yes, that Romeo.
- Pretty Boy: Typecast as one. Which was actually a huge factor in his first major role as Legolas. They needed someone beautiful to play an elf. It reaches a new level with his involvement in The Hobbit, Bloom still looks the part.
- What Could Have Been: He reportedly turned down the lead role in the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time film. The role eventually went to Jake Gyllenhall.
