Orlando Bloom says returning as Legolas for ‘Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug’ is ‘sheer joy’
From the Lord of the Rings trilogy Orlando Bloom get to become a fan favorite as the archer Legolas. Now Bloom is reunited with Peter Jackson to make his debut in the prequel.
Talking with Hit Fix in an Oct. 19 interview, Bloom describes his feelings about returning.
“It was sheer joy. It was also a little bit of, “Oh, my word. This is 10 years later, I’m 10 years older and how’s this all going to work?” I quite literally was like, “Can I just try on my old costume just for posterity of it all?” It was amazing that Pete was back at the helm of this movie, and it was amazing that I got a call to say “we would love you to be a part of the film.” I was just full of excitement. I was obviously like, “Ooh! This is going to be interesting to make the transition as an Elf being 10 years older as myself, as an actor, going in to playing a character that would be younger, but as Elves are kind of ageless anyway we’ve managed to bridge the gap.”
The Pirates of the Caribbean star explains there’s little difference between his LOTR and Hobbit versions of Legolas.
“Essentially the Woodland Realm Elves, which is where Legolas is from, and my father being Thranduil, the king of those Elves, are a particular type of Elf as described by Tolkien to be… I’m not going to quote him correctly, but they are different from the Lothlorien and the Rivendell elves. They’re more militant if you like. Legolas in “Lord of the Rings” was sent as a bridge from his people into the world of dwarves and humans and wizards and everything else. This is an introduction into the Woodland Realm Elves. Obviously we meet my father, Thranduil, who is a very powerful and strong character who is very particular in his vision of who the Elves are, who the Woodland Elves are, specifically. They are kind of, like I said, a militant group, the Woodland Realm Elves. So I think that the opportunity that Pete and Philippa and Fran and the writers and Pete saw was to create… I think there was a desire for Legolas to come back.”
Even Bloom confesses that he’s excited about the new technology bringing the Hobbit story to life.
“A lot of what we did on “Lord of the Rings,” what Pete did, it was just perspectives and shifting things. It was very rudimentary in comparison to what’s being done today. I’m as excited as you are, and I hope audiences will be able to see how that all gels and I know that it’s something that Pete and his team will be doing — working extensively on it to make it just the best experience that you can possibly have in the theater.”
Check out the full interview here
The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug opens in theaters on December 18, 2013.
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