(CBS) Orlando Bloom is best known for his supporting roles in the blockbusters "The Lord Of The Rings," "Pirates Of The Caribbean," and "Troy". Now, he's a Hollywood leading man. playing a blacksmith who defends Jerusalem during the Crusades in the historical drama "Kingdom of Heaven."

"It starts as a guy who goes on a spiritual journey of discovery, but it's a coming-of-age story," Bloom tells The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. "It's a man who is trying to understand what the world is about."

After losing his family and nearly losing his faith, Bloom's character, Balian, is enticed by his father and knight, Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), to join him on a trip across continents to the Holy City.

"You meet Balian, actually, as a man whose wife has commited suicide after the loss of their child," explains Bloom, "so my character is in this nihilistic state of disillusion... "He's so depressed and down. He's a man who is looking to God; what God could allow this to happen?"

The actor continues, "And ultimately, he then meets his father. His father tells him that he's a knight, and he can come to the Holy Land. He goes to the Holy Land and becomes a knight. He falls in love with a princess and becomes the defender of Jerusalem."

At this point in the Crusades, there was actually peace in Jerusalem. "100 years of peace at this time," Bloom says, "I think the idea of Jerusalem, to me, at that time, was there was some kind of spiritual utopia. Really, like people of any race, religion, they were there for their faith and therefore, to worship in peace."

So what is the kingdom of heaven? Bloom explains, in the film's production notes, "It's not in some afterlife. It's a place where you can be who you were born to be, where you can be true to yourself. It's a kingdom of conscience. It's a kingdom of hope and of unity. It's an ideal of a world we all should strive for, a world of peace."

But circumstances force Balian to make a series of serious moral choices. Bloom says, "The knight's code of honor is to be without fear, and upright and protect the people, ultimately, and help safeguard the helpless. And I think that is a message that runs very strong through this character and is passed from Liam Neeson, who knights him at the beginning, as my father. And it passes from one character to another and they talk about the right action and being a good man."

Having previously worked with director Ridley Scott on "Black Hawk Down," Bloom says he felt privileged to be part of the film, particularly since he considers himself just starting out.

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