Orlando Bloom
☼ Born on 13 December 1977, in Canterbury, Kent, England, UK
Biography
Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom was born on January 13, 1977 in Canterbury, Kent, England. His mother, Sonia Constance Josephine Bloom (née Copeland), was born in Kolkata, India, to an English family then-resident there. The man he first knew as his father, Harry Bloom, was a legendary political activist who fought for civil rights in South Africa. But Harry died of a stroke when Orlando was only four years old. After that, Orlando and his older sister, Samantha Bloom, were raised by their mother and family friend, Colin Stone. When Orlando was 13, Sonia revealed to him that Colin is actually the biological father of Orlando and his sister; the two were conceived after an agreement by his parents, since Harry, who suffered a stroke in 1975, was unable to have children.
Orlando attended St. Edmund's School in Canterbury but struggled in many courses because of dyslexia. He did embrace the arts, however, and enjoyed pottery, photography and sculpturing. He also participated in school plays and was active at his local theater. As a teen, Orlando landed his first job: he was a clay trapper at a pigeon shooting range. Encouraged by his mother, he and his sister began studying poetry and prose, eventually giving readings at Kent Festival. Orlando and Samantha won many poetry and Bible reciting competitions. Then Orlando, who always idolized larger-than-life characters, gravitated towards serious acting. At the age of 16, he moved to London and joined the National Youth Thea
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tre, spending two seasons there and gaining a scholarship to train with the British American Drama Academy. Like many young actors, he also auditioned for a number of television roles to further his career, landing bit parts in British television shows Casualty (1986), Midsomer Murders (1997) and Smack the Pony (1999). He also appeared in the critically acclaimed movie Wilde (1997).
He then attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. It was there, in 1998, that Orlando fell three stories from a rooftop terrace and broke his back. Despite fears that he would be permanently paralyzed, he quickly recovered and returned to the stage. As fate would have it, seated in the audience one night in 1999 was a director named Peter Jackson. After the show, he met with Orlando and asked him to audition for his new set of movies. After graduating from Guildhall, Orlando began work on the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, spending 18 months in New Zealand bringing to life "Legolas", a part which made him a household name. Today, he is one of the busiest and most sought-after actors in the industry.
In the role of actor
The Night of the Virgin (23/07/2017)
A young virgin gets more than he bargained for one New Year’s Eve in The Night of the Virgin. Nico (Javier Bódalo) was dragged to a New Year’s Eve party by friends and desperate to find a girl to take his virginity. Nico attracts the attention of Medea (Miriam MartÃn), who takes him home to her […]
The Three Musketeers (2011) (23/10/2011)
The classic novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas is probably one of the most adapted stories of all time and this is about the third high profile adaption that was made in my lifetime. When comparing this film to the others, I probably like it better than 2001’s The Musketeer, but this film doesn’t really hold […]
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (26/05/2007)
Here is the third and final of the May “threequels” At approximate 2 hours and 50 minutes in length, the movie could have definitely used a bit of trimming. It’s not that hard to follow, like some critics are saying, however it could have done without some of the sub-plots. Specifically, Chow Yun-Fat’s Sao Feng […]