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Hangin' With Archives
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Orlando Bloom:More “Pirate” Than Ever!by Lynn B
Here’s the latest dish! We got to interview Orlando recently in Beverly Hills. With seventy shooting days to go on “Pirates 3”, the tanned actor was in full Will Turner mode, longish hair pulled back, little goatee, leather necklaces and wearing understated long-sleeved gray tee and dark pants. We also got the scoop from a journalist pal that the hot actor may or may not have broken up with galpal Kate Bosworth but, on the day of our interview, he was dogsitting her pooch Lila in his hotel suite right along with his fave lab-mix Sidi and he attended her Superman Returns premiere so, you judge. Orlando likes to lean far back in his chair and lock hands over head while being interviewed. So far we haven’t seen him crash. Bloom told us all things “Pirates” and a little about his film Haven that has been in the editing bays for ages. He’s also very proud of the director’s cut DVD of his film Kingdom of Heaven which fills in much of the story left out of the theatrical version. Avast me hearties, lend an ear as Orlando tells us about uncomfortable, soaking wet pirate costumes, dangerous stunts, a wacky fan and fulfilling all his childhood fantasies acting everywhere from “Ring’s” Middle Earth to the deck of the Black Pearl! AGW: We saw you at the Superman Returns premiere. What did you think of the film? Orlando: It's great. I'm very proud of her (we can only assume he means Kate). AGW: Are you still fighting off teenage girls at premieres and things? Bloom: Hey! Bring 'em on! Fight them off? Don't be crazy. What do I look like? AGW: (He looks very cute but we’re being professional) Have you gotten any time off to yourself this summer? Orlando: Yeah. I've been in London. Hanging out, catching up with friends. It's been good. Had a few weeks. Beautiful weather. Watching the football (World Cup soccer). Brazil lost to Japan? Unbelievable. AGW: How do you deal with this sudden fame? Orlando: Terribly. Awful. I don't know. You tell me. How does it look from the outside? I can tell you it's terrifying on the inside. AGW: How do you hide out from the paparazzi? Orlando: I've got a couple of caves. I like to bury myself in them. Stay right out of the limelight. It's a process. I wouldn't change it, though. I wouldn't change it. I love to do what I do. So I wouldn't change it. AGW: Was it easy to rediscover your inner Pirate for this new film? Orlando: (laughs) Yeah. He goes from being straight-laced kind of upright stick-in-the mud-Will to becoming more of a bit of a pirate in this one, thankfully. It was kind of like discovering my inner pirate for the first time in a way. AGW: What's the attraction of doing these films? Is it a fulfillment of your childhood fantasy? Orlando: Yeah. My whole career has been fulfilling my childhood fantasies. I’ve played characters that are larger than life. Getting to play a knight, an elf, a prince, a soldier. I've really lived out all of my childhood fantasies. "Pirates" was just a great opportunity to work with some great people (like) Johnny Depp. It was a big draw. I've always admired him as a young actor. When I signed up to do the first one, to be on set with somebody like him, to see how he handles himself, to see how he goes about it, it was a real privilege. You learn as you go so I did that.
Orlando: (excited) I know! Can you believe she's snogging Johnny Depp? What is going on? (we laugh). The first movie was one movie and we weren't sure it was going to become two movies (in which we could further develop the characters). I remember being at Disneyland with Johnny and we're all sitting around with Jerry (Bruckheimer, the producer), and we're saying, ‘let's do a pirate movie for the rest of our lives’. That's when (it dawned on us) they were going to do more. What's really cool about it is they took what was a one-off movie and were able to really take it somewhere, and that's a credit to the writers and that first movie. If it hadn't been great and the characters were too one-dimensional, it would have been difficult to make more than one movie. But because of what was on the page, it was possible to make it into another movie, and then a third movie. AGW: And, even more? Orlando: Well, let's make a pirate movie for the rest of our lives! AGW: Johnny says he's up for more. Orlando: I know! I can't blame him. I remember watching the first one and seeing what Johnny did and what Geoffrey (Rush) did and I was like ‘these guys have "freedom" tattooed across their foreheads and they're doing it. And I'm playing this straight guy’. But it wasn't until I saw it that I understood that you can't have one without the other. I am the foil, the straight guy to his (wacky character). This one is different because It’s a real ensemble and you've got Davy Jones and Keira's the beauty and the sword-swinging, [backside]-kicking beauty at that. AGW: Oookay! Was it exhausting (shooting) the two films back to back? Orlando: Well, it's a real ensemble movie so it's not like I'm on the whole time, but yeah it was a challenge because you've got the arc of two movies to cover. You can shoot a scene from the second movie in the morning and the third movie in the afternoon and trying to remember where your character is emotionally, at that point in the movie, can be a bit more challenging. You just have to play the truth of the moment and thankfully we got great writers to create great stories and characters and develop it so it's not just one note. AGW: How do you compare The Lord of the Rings where you shot three films back to back to these two films? How different? Orlando: It's not that different. Lord of the Rings was my first experience making movies. I had no idea how movies were done. I thought that's the way they're (all) done. In a way, I had nothing to compare it to. But, the challenge is (that) your character develops over two movies much more than it would over one movie. You have to think about where in that development you are. And sometimes, when you shoot one movie, you have to think about that anyway. AGW: Shooting scenes out of order can’t be fun either. Orlando: You've got to keep jumping back and forward doing that kind of dance. The great thing about working on something like "Pirates," is that you don't really know what to expect. Going to see it, it's like a feast for the eyes. It's a shocker. AGW: What was your most challenging action sequence; the bone cages or the mill wheel? (When you’ve seen the film, this will make more sense but suffice to say that it looks dangerous!). Orlando: That's a good question. I think the wheel. Going upside down and stuff and swordfighting in there, I was all harnessed so I couldn't fall out, obviously. But, because of gravity, you're really reaching and at one point, the gravity takes you and you're still reaching, but it's pulling you the other way. (He demonstrates as if he’s holding a sword and rolling around). That was really difficult. The bone cage was just uncomfortable. Know what I mean? You're watching out for your[self] the whole time. AGW: Ouch! Didn’t you hurt yourself on a lot of other films? Orlando: I didn't hurt myself this time. Woo hoo! No injuries, really. I'm a lot more conscious about not getting injured now than I was before. It's about time, yeah. AGW: How many days did it take to shoot the wheel sequence? Orlando: I would say about eight. A week. About a week. Dealing with weather. AGW: Can we expect something more precarious in the next one? Orlando: How can they top it? They seem to keep topping it. I'm trying to remember what’s in the third one. We're still shooting. AGW: Do they put you more in danger to top the last movie each time? Orlando: Danger isn't the right word because it's a set. It's a controlled environment. It's fun. It's hard. Running backwards on top of a wheel was really difficult as it's rolling down a hill. But not danger. What's great about this film is that they did top (the first). How do you top pirates going skeletal in the moonlight and coming out. That's a hard thing to do. But I think the mythology of Davy Jones and the ocean, that tops it. Johnny Depp's entrance (in the first one), how do you top a ship that sinks down and then he steps onto the dock? How do you top that? It's really hilarious the way he enters this movie. It's brilliant. It tops it in a different way. You can expect more as well (in the third). AGW: Are you taking a break after "Pirates 3?" Orlando: There's a couple of things I'm looking at but one of them I'm not sure if I'm going to be doing it in the next couple of months or at the end of Pirates (3). It just depends on scheduling. Orlando: Soaking wet pirate gear, believe it or not. (frowns at the memory).. Being soaking wet is miserable, man. It doesn't matter if you're in the Caribbean or what you're in. The rain that comes out of those rain machines is cold. It's big drops and if it’s nighttime, it’s cold in the Caribbean. If you're soaking wet for like nine hours, it's cold and miserable. (chuckles) That was hard work. Dry and hot in the desert in chain mail wasn't comfortable, but I'd take that over soaking wet freezing any day! AGW: Any funny experiences with "Rings" fans? They’re still out there! Orlando: Oh, I know. Funny enough, when the first "LOTR" came out I didn't get noticed because I had a blond wig and nobody really knew me. I hadn't done "Pirates." I wasn't really recognized at all in the same way. It was like a blond wig. "Pirates" really changed that. But before that came out, I was in Trader Joe's or something doing some grocery shopping and this woman just came up behind me and said to me (whispering) ‘Are you my elf’? (we laugh) I was like ‘what do you say to that’? Uh, ‘I don’t know. Maybe?’ That was the first time I can remember being recognized by a fan. AGW: Okay, your other projects. When does Haven come out? Bloom: Oh, Haven! This September (he claps and rubs his hands together excitedly). The 15th of September. Thank the Lord. I can't wait. AGW: Is that because it’s more of a small ‘actor’s’ story? Orlando: Well, to get to do a human story amongst all these larger than life characters that I've been playing is awesome and that's what really want to be doing. What I'm looking for now is really human stories. I did a personal human story with Cameron Crowe (Elizabethtown). On Haven, I shot more in one day than I have in six months on ‘Pirates’. Eight scenes a day, it was phenomenal and I just got to do it. AGW: That is more creatively fulfilling? Orlando: It gives a spontaneity that you can't get when you've spent six hours in your trailer and then you walk on set and you do three minutes. It's hard to have that spontaneity when you're doing a big movie. I'm not saying you can't get it, but it's a challenge. Once in ‘Pirates’, we looked at each other and went, ‘Am I a stuntman or an actor?’ You kind of feel like that but then you see the end product and it’s great. There is that. AGW: The DVD, director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven is finally coming out. How do you feel about it? Orlando: Get that long version! I say go out and buy the long version, mate. I'm so happy to have been a part of that process. I would go straight back into the desert in a ton of chain mail for Ridley Scott any day of the week. He's an amazing director and I can't wait to see the long version. AGW: Do you think the theatrical release was messed up by the studio? Orlando: I couldn't tell you. I'm the actor. That's not my area. Studios, agents, that's their area. I just show up with a sword in my hand and try and kill a few whatever it is... a squid. I'm really looking forward to that being released (on DVD) and I'm happy it's out there. When you look at a movie like Bladerunner, when it was released, nobody got it. My hope is that one day, maybe ten or twenty years from now, people will go, ‘Wow, Ridley Scott made a movie about the Crusades at a time when America was at war, at a time when there was a lot of speculation and heat on it, (the Middle East) and he still put that movie out there. And hopefully that movie will stand up and people will appreciate it’. (We agree, the DVD version is a much better movie). AGW: Before you leave us, is there anything you like about L.A.? Orlando: The weather!
pictures on this page courtesy of and copyright Walt Disney Pictures, 2006 |
 
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Our
favorite elf turned apprentice blacksmith was forced to join a pirate
crew in “Curse of the Black Pearl” but Orlando Bloom’s
Will Turner is more of a “manly man on the high seas” in the
new Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Orlando
gets to ride a knife down a sail, swash and buckle (what DOES that mean,
anyway?) with the best of them and, with his lady love Elizabeth Swann
by his side, he tackles the fiercest denizen of the deep himself, Davy
Jones! 
AGW:
Was it fun to further develop the relationship with Elizabeth Swann (Keira
Knightley) this time? It was innocent love in the first movie. Now you’ve
got a little jealousy going on. 
AGW:
Okay, wardrobe question. Is it tougher to wear soaking wet pirate gear
or Kingdom of Heaven knight armor?