Orlando Bloom

Orlando Bloom is practicing Buddhism under Soka Gakkai International. He became a full member of the UK branch of Soka Gakkai International in 2004.

He is known to enjoy athletic activities like mountain bike riding and yoga.

He adopted a black Saluki mix dog from Morocco and named him Sidi.

Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom was born on 13 January 1977 at Canterbury, Kent, in the United Kingdom. His mother Sonia ran a foreign language school. Her husband was the Jewish South African-born anti-Apartheid novelist Harry Saul Bloom, whom Orlando believed to be his father. He also has a sister named Samantha Bloom.

When he was 13 years; nine years after Harry’s death, his mother revealed that his biological father was Colin Stone, the then-principal of the Concorde International language school.

He was raised in the Church of England and attended the St Peter's Methodist Primary School initially. He was later transferred to the King's School and St Edmund's School in Canterbury. During childhood he was discovered to be dyslexic.

Orlando Bloom was encouraged to pursue drama and arts by his mother and in 1993 he shifted to London to take up a two year course in Drama, Photography and Sculpture at the Fine Arts College. He also enrolled in the National Youth Theatre, and earned a scholarship to train at the British American Drama Academy.

He took up some professional acting projects prior to attending the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London to study acting. He graduated in 1999.

Orlando Bloom began his career in acting with a minor role in the feature film ‘Wilde’ (1997).

In 1999, he was cast in his first major role, as Legolas in the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ film trilogy (2001-2003). The trilogy included ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001), ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ (2002) and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003). Meanwhile he also appeared in a brief role in ‘Black Hawk Down’ (2001).

In 2003, he was cast alongside actors Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley in fantasy swashbuckler film ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’. The feature film was a commercial success.

In 2004, he was part of the epic adventure war film ‘Troy’ opposite Brad Pitt and Eric Bana. In 2005, he starred in the movies ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ and ‘Elizabethtown’.

He acted in the sequel ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest’ (2006). Also, he played the lead role in feature film ‘Haven’, of which he was the executive producer as well. He also made a guest appearance in the sitcom ‘Extras’ during that year.

Orlando Bloom is a versatile actor best known for his roles in the film series ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’.