Guy Candy: ‘Pirates’ Star Orlando Bloom

Guy Candy is more than thrilled to welcome back the Pirates franchise, which hits theatres this weekend for two very big reasons – but we’ll take on Johnny Depp next week. This installment is reserved strictly for the singling out of our favorite lionhearted swashbuckler Will Turner’s portrayer, Orlando Bloom.

We love Orlando’s third turn as the brave-hearted Will, who struggles with a heavy conscience as he tries to save his father Bootstrap and win back the love of his life, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley). Guy Candy has also loved watching Bloom blossom from a skinny, waifish young man into the strapping thirty year old he’s become.

Orlando’s journey has been anything but ordinary too. Hailing from the historic British town of Canterbury, England, Orlando was raised by his widowed mother. At the encouragement of that very woman, Orlando developed a rather romantic love of the written word at an early age, which eventually saw him turning up at fairs and winning poetry reading competitions. He quickly turned to acting, moving to London to study.

At 18, this dream boy had a dream discovery when Australian director Peter Jackson ended up in the audience at one of his plays. That led to Orlando’s turn as beautiful blonde elf Legolas in the “Lord of the Ring’s” trilogy. A host of other roles in films like “Black Hawk Down,” and “Elizabethtown,” helped keep the star from being typecast and on our radar permanently and Guy Candy has been forever thankful.

And if you love Orlando as a swashbuckler, this installment might not be the last chance to see him in that guise. “I just can’t see it going away,” the hunk told us at the “Pirates” Disneyland premiere. “It’s just now hitting its stride, it’s just getting warmed up. It’s been an incredible ride. Who knew it was going to be this?”

But if after seeing “World’s End,” you end up in full-blown Bloomania, head to London where the star and his new short locks will be once again hitting the stage. “It’s me being me,” he told Access of his hair’s shorter length. “No, I’m going to do a play in London. It’s been eight years since I left school so I wanted to do something different.”