Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He made his breakthrough as the character Legolas in The Lord of the Rings film series (2001–03), earning him three Actors Award nominations, winning once. He reprised his role in The Hobbit film series (2013–14). Considered by some to be the Errol Flynn of his time, he gained further notice appearing in epic fantasy, historical, and adventure films, including as Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (2003–2007, 2017), Paris in Troy (2004), Balian de Ibelin in Kingdom of Heaven (2005), and the Duke of Buckingham in The Three Musketeers (2011).
Bloom appeared in Hollywood films such as the war film Black Hawk Down (2001), the Australian Western Ned Kelly (2003), the romantic comedy Elizabethtown (2005), and New York, I Love You (2007). In 2020, he gained acclaim for the Afghanistan war drama film The Outpost (2020). He also starred in the Amazon Prime Video series Carnival Row (2019–2023).
He made his professional stage debut in In Celebration at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in 2007 and starred in a Broadway adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in 2013. He returned to the theatre in a West End revival of Tracy Letts' Killer Joe in 2018. In 2009, Bloom was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In 2015, he received the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award.
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Early life
Bloom was born to Sonia Bloom (née Copeland) on 13 January 1977 in Canterbury, Kent, and was named after the 16th-century English composer Orlando Gibbons. He has an older sister, Samantha Bloom. Bloom initially believed that his biological father was his mother's husband, the South African-born anti-apartheid novelist Harry Bloom, who died when Bloom was four years old. However, when he was thirteen, Bloom's mother revealed to him that his biological father was actually Colin Stone, Harry Bloom's student and family friend. Stone, the principal of the Concorde International language school, became Orlando Bloom's legal guardian after Harry Bloom's death. Bloom is a cousin of photographer Sebastian Copeland.
Bloom was brought up in the Church of England. He attended St Peter's Methodist Primary School, then the junior school of The King's School before proceeding to St Edmund's School Canterbury. Bloom was discovered to be dyslexic, and was encouraged by his mother to take art and drama classes. After being spurred into action following his school prize submission to panto actor Richard Sieben in 1992, in 1993, he moved to London to follow a two-year A-Level course in Drama, Photography and Sculpture at Fine Arts College, Hampstead. He then 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 television roles in episodes of Casualty and Midsomer Murders, and subsequently made his film debut in Wilde (released in 1997), opposite Stephen Fry. After the filming in 1996, he went to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in acting in 1999.
Career
Bloom's first appearance on the screen was in a small role, as a rent boy, in the 1997 film Wilde. Two days after graduating from Guildhall in 1999, he was cast in his first major role, playing Legolas in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003). He had originally auditioned for the part of Faramir, who does not appear until the second movie, but the director, Peter Jackson, cast him as Legolas instead. While shooting a scene, he broke a rib after falling off a horse, but eventually recovered and continued shooting. At the same time, Bloom also played a brief role in Ridley Scott's war film Black Hawk Down as PFC Todd Blackburn. In 2002, he was chosen as one of the Teen People "25 Hottest Stars Under 25", despite him having turned 25, and was named People's hottest Hollywood bachelor in the magazine's 2004 list. All members of the cast of the Rings films 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 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Bloom has also won other awards, including European Film Awards, Hollywood Festival Award, Empire Awards and Teen Choice Awards, and has been nominated for many others. Most of Bloom's box office successes have been as part of an ensemble cast.
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. After the success of Pirates, Bloom next took to the screen as Paris, the prince of Troy, in the 2004 spring blockbuster Troy opposite Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Peter O'Toole. He subsequently played the lead roles in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven and Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown, both released in 2005, and starred in the 2006 film Haven, for which he also served as executive producer. In 2006, Bloom was one of the guest stars in the sitcom Extras, in which he portrayed an exaggeratedly arrogant, narcissistic version of himself who had a great loathing for Johnny Depp (his co-star in Pirates of the Caribbean). Bloom pushed for Extras to go further by making his persona very unlikable, and contributed to the gag about him admiring Depp out of sheer jealousy because Depp was far more talented than he was, not to mention rated higher than him on the 'top hottest' charts. In 2004, the second and third films of the Pirates of the Caribbean series were conceived, with screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio developing a story arc that would span both sequels, in which Bloom reprised his role as Will Turner. Filming for the projects took place in 2005; Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest released in July 2006, with the worldwide collections of $1.066 billion, becoming the biggest financial hit of Bloom's career. The third installment in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, was released in May, the following year. Afterwards, Bloom repeatedly stated that he was done with the Pirates series, noting that there was closure for his character in At World's End. By 2010, both Bloom and Keira Knightley were quoted as saying they wanted to move on from the franchise.
Personal life
Bloom has said that he tries "not to exclude himself from real life as much as possible." 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 SGI-UK (the UK branch of Soka Gakkai International), a lay Buddhist association affiliated with the teachings of Nichiren.
Bloom has also been a part of Global Green, an environmental company, since the early 2000s. As part of his environmental involvement, he has renovated his London home to use solar panels, incorporate recycled materials, and has used energy efficient lightbulbs.
Involved in modelling work, in 2002 he starred opposite English actress Kate Beckinsale in a Gap television advertisement directed by Cameron Crowe.
Bloom has a tattoo of the Elvish word "nine" on his right wrist, written in fictional Tengwar Elvish script, a reference to his involvement in The Lord of the Rings as one of the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring. The other actors of "The Fellowship" (Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood) had the same tattoo with the exception of John Rhys-Davies whose stunt double had the tattoo instead.
On 12 February 2009, Bloom actively participated in the 'Australia Unites' fundraiser to raise support for the victims of the Australian bushfires on 7 February 2009.
On 12 October 2009, Bloom was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He has been involved in the organisation since 2007 and has visited schools and villages in Nepal in support of sanitation and education programmes. Bloom also visited the city of Sloviansk in the east of Ukraine in April 2016 to raise awareness of the education crisis facing children during the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014–2015. In 2023, Bloom returned to Ukraine again as a Goodwill Ambassador. Bloom met children affected by the war at a children's centre in Kyiv and met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Relationships
Bloom had an "on-and-off relationship" with American actress Kate Bosworth, from 2003 until ending the relationship in September 2006.
In late 2007, Bloom began dating Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr. They announced their engagement in June 2010, and were married the following month. Kerr gave birth to their son on 6 January 2011 in Los Angeles. On 25 October 2013, Bloom and Kerr announced that they had separated several months earlier, and intended to end their marriage. They were divorced by the end of 2013.
In 2014, Bloom was in a relationship with French actress Nora Arnezeder.
Bloom began dating American singer and songwriter Katy Perry in January 2016; however, the couple confirmed in February 2017 that they had split. They resumed their relationship in February 2018, and became engaged on 14 February 2019. On 5 March 2020, it was revealed through the music video for Perry's song "Never Worn White" that the couple were expecting their first child together. Perry gave birth to their daughter on 26 August 2020. On 26 June 2025, it was reported that Bloom and Perry had separated.
Achievements
Bloom appeared in his home city of Canterbury on 13 July 2010 when he was presented with an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Kent at Canterbury Cathedral. For contributions to the film industry, Bloom was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 2 April 2014. His motion pictures walk of fame star is located at 6927 Hollywood Boulevard.
