Orlando Bloom
Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom was born on January 13, 1977 in Canterbury, England) is an English actor who became famous playing Legolas in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. He has also had major roles in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Troy, The Calcium Kid, and his first lead role in Kingdom of Heaven. Bloom is currently filming the sequel Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest.
Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent to Sonia J. Copeland, who was born in India to an English physician father, doctor Francis Copeland. Although he had originally thought that his father was South African Jewish lawyer Harry Bloom (who died in 1981), his mother revealed to Orlando in his teens that his biological father was not Bloom, but family friend Colin Stone. Orlando attended St Edmund's School in Canterbury, but struggled due to his dyslexia. In 1993, he moved to London and joined the National Youth Theatre, spending two seasons there and earning a scholarship to train at the British American Drama Academy. He had a few television roles and made his film debut in Wilde (1997), opposite Stephen Fry, before entering the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In 1998, he broke his back in a three story fall, and it was briefly feared that he would never walk again. However, he made a complete recovery and walked out of the hospital twelve days later. He had metal plates inserted into his backbone to support it, which have since been removed, except for a single screw. He regularly performs yoga and Pilates to strengthen his back.
Bloom has said that he tries "not to exclude from real life as much as possible".He is a Manchester United fan and lives in London. 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).
Bloom is a practising Buddhist. In 2004, he became a full member 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 utilize energy efficient lightbulbs.
Bloom has been approached by UNICEF to act as an international ambassador.
Bloom met American actress Kate Bosworth outside a coffee shop in 2002, where he was introduced to her by a mutual friend, soon after he met her again at the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers later in that year. The two had an "on-and-off relationship" from 2002 until splitting up in September of 2006.
Bloom has also been linked to model Miranda Kerr, and actresses Uma Thurman, Kirsten Dunst, Sienna Miller, Jessica Biel and Penélope Cruz.
Bloom is currently dating Pirates of the Caribbean co-star Naomie Harris. However there are reports that he and Jennifer Aniston are now going out.
Bloom has sustained several injuries: he broke his left arm and cracked his skull while falling out of a tree, broke his nose while playing rugby, broke his right leg skiing in Switzerland, broke his left leg in a motorbike crash, broke his right wrist while snowboarding. He also broke his back when he slipped trying to reach a roof terrace of a friend's house and fell three floors