Orlando Bloom On A Crusade

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.
"I'm six, seven years out of drama school," Bloom says, "Still very much at the beginning of my career. I've been really fortunate and blessed to be in the hands of some of the best directors out there. I'm really a director's actor. I like to be sort of pushed into positions and, you know, working with directors like Ridley."

Perhaps having been named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People for 2004 and 2005 does not hurt either, even if he had to be 20 pounds heavier for his Balian role. Ask how he managed to achieve that, Bloom says with a smile, "A lot of eating."

And if you are wondering who his main squeeze is, the answer is in Rolling Stone magazine. Of course, Bloom graced the cover.

Looking at a photograph from the magazine that shows him with his dog on his shoulders, Bloom says proudly, "That's my boy. He was a dog that was eating camel dung out of a box. There were a lot of camels on the set. He was just, like, tiny, and there were so many dogs astray. And I just was like, 'I'm going to get him cleaned up.' He's out in the Caribbean where we're filming 'Pirates.'"

Yes, Bloom is shooting the sequels - two and three.

Fast Facts About Orlando Bloom:

• Born in Canterbury, England on Jan. 13, 1977
• Joined the National Youth Theatre at age 16 and spent two years honing his craft before winning a scholarship to London's British American Drama Academy
• In 1997, made his film debut as an attractive rent boy in "Wilde," the biopic of Irish playwright Oscar Wilde before furthering his training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
• In 1999, shortly after his graduation, he was cast in the star-making part of Legolas in the Tolkein trilogy that was filmed over a two-year period (1999-2000). Rolled out over three consecutive years, the films, "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001), "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (2002) and "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003)
• In 2001, he worked in the ensemble cast of the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced, Ridley Scott-directed war drama "Black Hawk Down."
• In 2003, he starred opposite Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean," loosely based on Disney's beloved theme park ride, playing the romantic, swashbuckling secondary lead Will Turner.
• In 2004, Bloom took on the role of the legendary warrior Paris in Wolfgang Petersen's "Troy," the film adaptation of Homer's epic poem. He also co-starred with Heath Ledger and Naomi Watts in "Ned Kelly" - playing Joe Byrne a member of the Kelly gang.