Orlando Bloom: Legolas – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Considering that it was Peter Jackson’s priority to make his onscreen adaptation of The Lord of the Rings the most sensitive and absorbing rendering of Tolkien’s material possible, he certainly cast some attention-diverting names. But for the interests of keeping the films as serious as possible, those choices were of course perfect: Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett and Sean Bean brought the sort of gravitas to the cast that only actors of this calibre could.
Just as crucial for the authenticity of the films, however, was the balancing of these actors against others who were not as well known. It was important to Jackson that many of his cast came with no previous associations, so that they might more wholly become for the audience these beloved and most beautifully realized of literary characters.
The casting process for these parts was understandably fierce, and as all three films were notoriously shot together, Jackson had the unenviable task of casting three, three hour long movies in one go. While reviewing the auditions that had been taped for the role of Faramir (not to appear until The Two Towers), Jackson noticed one particular drama student who very clearly could not play not Faramir. This wasn’t going to matter to the young actor, however. Because instead, Jackson had recognized Legolas Greenleaf, prince of the elven realm of Mirkwood, master archer, and crucial member of the Fellowship of the Ring.
Until this point, 22 year old Orlando Bloom had appeared in three episodes of British medical drama Casualty and as a rent boy opposite Stephen Fry in 1997’s Wilde. From here he took a significant step back into obscurity, with just one more appearance in Midsomer Murders (where he died an ignominious death by pitchfork) before getting ‘the call,’ from Peter Jackson himself.
Tolkien’s Legolas is not an easy character to interpret. As an elf he is distant from the more emotional tendencies of races such as Hobbits and Men, and his elven poise can be mistaken for indifference. Many have argued that characteristics such as these meant that Bloom didn’t actually have to act – which was a good job, because he can’t. But in this particular case, any inability on the part of Bloom actually translated directly into a sort of, let’s call it, detachment, that was beyond perfect for his character. And this is aside from his possessing a set of cheekbones so sharp that we could question his need for a weapon.
It could never be said of Bloom that he did not commit to his role. He famously modelled Legolas’ controlled grace on that of a cat, and broke a rib falling from a horse during a stunt that he had insisted on performing himself. He is also the only person in the world who could make Katniss Everdene’s ability with a bow and arrow look as though she’s using a bubble-gun.
It was testament to Bloom’s convincing portrayal of Legolas how quickly even some of the most stalwart Tolkien fans came to terms with his controversial presence in The Hobbit. There is a huge amount of nostalgia for The Lord of the Rings and its characters, and Bloom succeeded in bringing some of that with him to the next venture. Whatever the hell he was doing there, it was just plain old damn good to see him again.
