Orlando Bloom

Like a flower opening its petals to the springtime sun, Orlando Bloom�s career is exploiting light. Limelight, to be exact. And like said flower, his career is blossoming quickly and will surely flourish, at least for the short term.

Precious few actors are fortunate enough to score a freshman gig guaranteeing worldwide exposure, an instant fan base, lifelong financial security and a phone besieged by casting agents. But this is exactly what happened to Bloom, who was chosen from thousands to portray Legolas Greenleaf, the immortal �warrior elf,� in the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien�s �The Lord of the Rings� trilogy.

Bloom was a virtual unknown before meeting �Rings� director Peter Jackson. So smitten was Jackson with Bloom that he rejected his audition for the much smaller role of Faramir and had him read for Legolas. A fortnight later, Bloom got the job. Ah, showbiz legend and lore are born.

The 26-year-old Englishman was raised by his mother in Canterbury, Kent. By his mid-teens he was living in London and performing with the National Youth Theater, whose name says it all. Bloom sharpened his chops there for two seasons then accepted a scholarship with the British American Drama Academy, his matriculation from which led to parts on television and bringing an agent on board to shepherd him along. More schooling ensued at London�s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which has given the world the likes of Ewan McGregor and Joseph Finnes.

But where does an ambitious, well-trained actor turn for his first substantial job? In school Bloom had played in Sophocles� �Antigone,� Chekov�s �Three Sisters� and the obligatory Shakespeare (�Twelfth Night�). His initial intentions for acting, however, seemed to steer far clear of art, as a �Quick Quote� from his Web site illustrates: �I don�t care much about the money at all. Frankly, if I get the chance to kiss someone in a movie, they wouldn�t need to pay me at all. Basically, I can say that I came to acting because of the women.�

However flippant, juvenile and soundbyte-friendly this quip may be, before Bloom had a chance to plant any fee-free busses, reality intervened in a most sobering manner. While trying to shimmy to the rooftop terrace at a friend�s apartment, he fell either two or three floors (the PR people have yet to reach concord) and broke his back. Paralysis for life was the first prognosis, but after surgery and several days under doctors� care, Bloom walked out of the hospital, albeit on crutches.

From near catastrophe sprouted opportunity, as auditions for roles in �The Fellowship of the Ring,� �The Two Towers� and �The Return of the King� got underway soon after Bloom had recovered from his quasi-defenestration. Actors from every English-speaking country were invited to stand before Peter Jackson, who, as reported above, opened up to Bloom and bestowed upon him the role of the 2,931-year-old, bow-and-arrow-wielding Legolas.

Fortunately young men are spry and mend on the quick, because to portray an elf with super-human strength, supersonic reflexes and tweaked sensory awareness, Bloom had to undergo the kind of intensive training that actors just looooove to talk about in interviews and at press conferences. Two months of archery, fencing and horseback riding no doubt tested his limits, forced him to look deep within himself and made him a better -- or at least buffer -- person.

I don�t mean to come off as sarcastic or skeptical, nor do I want to appear to be lumping Bloom in with other just-add-hype-and-midriffs actors in the New Hollywood. But the fact is that it�s tough to evaluate Bloom�s abilities based on the two released �Rings� films and his small part in Ridley Scott�s �Blackhawk Down.� Like a flower yet to bloom, he still has a lot to reveal; we must wait and see if everything�s coming up roses or if it will be the acrid bouquet of stinkweed that graces our olfactory receptors. Did Bloom, as Legolas Greenleaf, reveal a screen presence and demonstrate talents that could translate into a long, fruitful career in roles not as dependent upon makeup, special effects and preordained media coverage and box-office virility? Absolutely. Is he handsome and quirky -- yet down to earth -- enough to capture the hearts of millions? Why not?

Time is Orlando Bloom�s best friend. He�s young and has two mega-hits to his credit, with �Return of the King� sure to continue the trend. �Pirates of the Caribbean� and �Troy,� starring Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt, respectively, will be the films for which a far less fanatical and enamored audience will have to judge him.