Friday, January 6, 2012

The Year of Knowledge: Orlando Bloom

It's the first Friday of the year, and today is Famous Friday, the day of the week where I will learn about people, places, or things that are famous, or in some cases, infamous. While this won't be some random celebrity blog, for today, I thought I'd pick someone who has a birthday this week. Imagine my disappointment when Orlando Bloom came up. Yes, that was sarcasm.

I married a geek. Because we have been together for over 17 years, I have picked up a lot of geek-like tendencies, although I try to deny it. When The Lord of the Rings movie first came out, I was very insistant that I would not see it. I had read the books in middle school, and I did not want to go through that fresh hell again.

And then I saw with Legolas, and I didn't care if it was a movie adaptation of the New York City phone book, I was going to see that movie.

My beautiful Legolas is actually Orlando Bloom. Born January 13, 1977 in England, Orlando had an interesting upbringing. Although told he was the son of Harry Bloom, his mother's husband and Jewish South African, he discovered after Harry's death, his actual biological father was his mother's business parnter and family friend, Collin Stone. Collin eventually adopted Orlando.

One of the more interesting parts of Orlando is that he overcame a significant learning disability, dyslexia, in order to become very successful in school and to pursue a love of acting and performing. And as we see from his stream of successes, the dyslexia has not slowed him down.

What successes? Did I mention Legolas? Lord of the Rings? Sheer epicness? You need more?

Orlando has performed in Pirates of the Caribbean, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, and New York, I Love You.

Oh, and he's going to be reprising his role of Legolas in the upcoming movie, The Hobbit. Fan girl squeal!

Besides all of the great movies he has been in, and the wonderful actors he worked with, he is still a very grounded person. He is a soccer fan and dog lover. He even rescued a dog while filming Kingdom of Heaven. He is also intensely spiritual. He is a practicing Buddhist and evironmental activist.

It's not just all sunshine and fainting fans for this actor, however. He's had quite a lot of pain in his life - literally! He has broken both legs, his left arm, his nose, his back, and his skull three separate times. Most of the injuries came from playing sports or, in some cases, from being a guy (Really, Orlando? Climbing to reach a friend's roof terrace and falling three floors?).

Orlando Bloom is a normal guy, with a lot of passions, a lot of talent, and a lot of determination.

And did I mention we get to see him on the big screen as Legolas again? Swoon.

Thanks IMBD.com and GQ.com for all of the yummy info!

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