orlando bloom

Biography

Early life

Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent, England. His mother, Sonia Constance Josephine Copeland, was born in Calcutta, India, the daughter of Betty Constance Josephine Walker and Francis John Copeland, a physician and surgeon;^[1] . Bloom's maternal grandmother's family has lived in Tasmania, Australia and India, and are of English descent, some of them having originally come from Kent.^[1] Bloom had thought that his father was South African-born Jewish lawyer Harry Saul Bloom, but during his younger years and after Harry's death, Bloom's mother revealed to him that his biological father was actually Colin Stone, a family friend. Bloom, who is named after the 17th century composer Orlando Gibbons,^[1] has one sister, Samantha Bloom, who was born in 1975.

Bloom attended St Edmund's School in Canterbury, but struggled due to his dyslexia, but he still got through.^[2] In 1993, he moved to London and joined the National Youth Theatre, spending two seasons there and earning a scholarship to train at the British American Drama Academy.

Bloom began acting professionally with a television role in an episode of Casualty, and subsequently made his film debut in Wilde (1997), opposite Stephen Fry, before entering the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he studied acting, sculpture and photography. In 1998, he broke his back in a three storey fall, and it was briefly feared that he would not regain the ability to walk. However, he made a complete recovery and was able to walk out of the hospital on crutches within twelve days. Bloom had steel plates inserted into his backbone to support it, which have since been removed, except for a single screw. He regularly practises yoga and Pilates to strengthen his back.

Career

Shortly after graduating in 1999, Bloom was cast in his first major role, playing Legolas in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003). While shooting a scene, he broke a couple of ribs, but fully recovered and continued shooting. The success of the trilogy transformed Bloom from an unknown actor into one of world's best-known celebrities. In 2002, he was chosen as one of the Teen People "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" and was named People's hottest Hollywood bachelor in the magazine's 2004 list.

All members of the cast of the Rings movies were nominated for Best Ensemble Acting at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for three years in a row, finally winning in 2003 for the third film, The Return of the King. Bloom has also won other awards, including Hollywood Festival Award, Empire Awards and Teen Choice Awards, and has been nominated for many others.

Bloom next starred opposite Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was a blockbuster hit during the summer of 2003. He subsequently played the lead roles in Kingdom of Heaven (gaining 15 to 20 lb of muscle by eating six times a day and lifting weights during filming) and Elizabethtown (both 2005). Both films were box office failures in the United States, although Kingdom of Heaven performed better internationally.

Bloom's most recent films are the sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which was released on July 7, 2006, and the independently made Haven, which received a limited release in the U.S. on September 15, 2006. He is currently filming the third of the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, which is to be released on May 25, 2007. Bloom was set to subsequently appear in the Great Depression-themed independent film drama, Seasons of Dust, which would have starred Kate Bosworth, due to their break-up however, the film was put on hold.^{citation needed]} After Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest sold over 1 billion dollars at the box office, Bloom became the first and only actor to have 2 movies to gross over 1 billion dollars ( Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and The Return of the King).

Bloom, who had intended to become a stage actor after graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, has stated that he would like to appear in stage roles, and is "avidly looking for the right sort of material that [he] can do something with".^[3]

Personal life

Orlando is a Manchester United fan and lives in London. During filming in Morocco for Kingdom of Heaven, Bloom rescued and adopted a dog, Sidi (a black Saluki mix with a white mark on his chest).

In 2004, he became a full member of Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist association affiliated with the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin. ^{[4] [5]}

He has on his right wrist a tattoo of the Elvish word for "nine", a reference to his involvement in the Lord of the Rings and the fact that his character was one of the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring. He covers the tattoo up with armbands or sleeves in other films, however it is possible to catch a glimpse of it during Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The other members of the Fellowship (except for John Rhys-Davies) got similar tattoos during the film's production. It was reportedly Orlando's idea. He also has a tattoo of a sun-like image to the bottom-left of his navel.

After meeting actress Kate Bosworth outside a coffee shop, he was later re-introduced to her by a friend, and then met her again at the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The two actors dated until splitting up temporarily in 2005. However, on September 05, 2006, sources reported that the couple had separated again. ^[6] There has been speculation that Bloom has become involved with Penélope Cruz, but Cruz's spokesperson denied it stating, “They are not dating."^[7]

Selected filmography

References

External links

• Orlando Bloom at the Internet Movie Database
• Orlando Bloom at Yahoo! Movies