The movie that ruined Orlando Bloom’s career and sent him into exile: “I really loved it”
In the early 2000s, Hollywood couldn’t get enough of Orlando Bloom. The British actor, who made his film debut in 1997 as a rent boy in Wilde, rose to prominence after he portrayed Legolas in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
The 2001 blockbuster was Bloom’s second-ever film performance in what remains an impressive feat but likely also resembles his grandest triumph. But he did have his path to the top of the Hollywood pile carved out and laid with golden stepping stones.
The actor starred alongside Ewan McGregor in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down that same year. Bloom was in high demand, and after reprising his role as Legolas in the subsequent Lord of the Rings films, 2002’s The Two Towers, and 2003’s The Return of the King, he landed the role of Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. He starred in four of the five films in the series, most recently returning for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in 2017.
Bloom also starred as one of the leading characters in Troy, a 2004 epic war film that boasted other prominent names such as Brad Pitt and Eric Bana. During this period, Bloom’s heartthrob status led him to star in several romantic comedies, most notably Elizabethtown.
The 2005 film, helmed by Cameron Crowe, the director behind Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire and Say Anything…, was a critical flop. A star-studded cast, including Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, and Jessica Biel, couldn’t save the film from negative reviews. In fact, the term ‘Manic Pixie Dream Girl’ (MPDG) was coined by critic Nathan Rabin after observing Dunst’s character. He said: “[The MPDG] exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.”
Not only was the film criticised, but so was Bloom’s performance, which was described as rather charmless, proving that, despite his looks, he might not have been as well-equipped for romance movies as people initially thought. The picture would become an albatross for the actor who seemingly couldn’t shake the shadow it cast. The film would effectively end his bid to become a leading man of the calibre of Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio.
Regardless, Bloom was a fan of the film and enjoyed his time working on it. He shared: “I loved it. I have to say, I really loved it. I felt vulnerable. When you have a huge set piece in the middle of a movie, whether it’s a siege tower coming down or 100 horses charging across the plain, it sort of does a lot of the work for you. When it’s just you hold that thing, it was new. I feel like I’ve got a lot to learn.”
Bloom has proved himself to be most capable when starring in fantasy and adventure films, which he has continued to star in, albeit less successfully, over the past decade. In 2011, he starred in The Three Musketeers, and he reprised his role as Legolas in the Lord of the Rings prequel films, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
Recently, he has also starred in the HBO Max animated sitcom The Prince, which pokes fun at the Royal Family, and will star in an upcoming thriller called Red Right Hand. But while those movies offer up a consistent run of work that has likely kept him in fine clothes and a decent abode, his chance at becoming a leading man seemed to peak and trough with his turn in 2005’s Elizabethtown.
