Orlando Bloom Fact File

Bloomin' marvellous!

If you haven't heard this chap's name in 2003 you must have been living on the moon. Orlando Bloom is the hottest thing to come out of the UK since Ewan - we've tracked his path to superstardom.

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Born on January 13 1977 in Canterbury, Orlando Bloom knew from an early age that he wanted to act. He switched from his original ambition, to be Superman, to acting as soon as he found out that the Superman he saw on screen was actually played by someone else. He left home for London at just 16, keen to pursue his vocation. Two years at the National Youth Theatre ignited a passion for acting on stage and Orlando's early career was dominated by roles in London productions of plays including The Seagull, Twelfth Night and Trojan Women. His one significant early movie role was a small part in the critically acclaimed Oscar Wilde biopic, Wilde, starring Stephen Fry - offers of film parts flooded in after this but all were turned down in favour of stage roles. It wasn't until 1999, when Orlando was approached by Peter Jackson with the offer of the part of Legolas in his Lord Of The Rings trilogy, that his film career really took off. The unprecedented success of Jackson's Tolkein adaptation has thrust its entire cast into the limelight, none more so than the delicately handsome Orlando Bloom. World domination now beckons. Three huge movies: Pirates Of The Caribbean, Ned Kelly and then Troy (with Brad Pitt) will ensure that Orlando's on-screen presence is felt well into 2004, the year that will also see the boy from Canterbury in his first starring role, in Alex De Rakoff's The Calcium Kid.

Did you know?

As a child, Orlando was severely dyslexic. The condition has lessened as he has grown older but he still describes himself as "mildly dyslexic"

A year before starting work on LOTR, Orlando almost died when he fell three stories from the side of a friend's house that he was painting. He broke his back and was warned that he may never walk again but, after a period confined to a wheelchair, he made a full recovery from the injury

Quotes:

On Johnny Depp: "I can guarantee any actor my age would say Johnny Depp is THE guy"

On his role as Paris in the upcoming Troy: "Will in Pirates and Legolas, they're obvious hero types. Paris is an antihero and this is the story of stories."

Gore Verbinski, POTC director: "He's beautiful and accessible. As cool as Orlando can be, there is also something there you can relate to. He has the ability to create characters we love to watch, yet he doesn't isolate us."