Orlando Bloom doesn’t lack for attention–especially the teenage girl variety–but it’s easy to overlook the British actor when he’s co-starring in a film with Johnny Depp.
More Top Picks Best Xl Gaming Mousepads For The Money
In “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” however, Bloom’s character Will Turner isn’t just the wishy-washy romantic lead, living in the swashbuckling Capt. Jack Sparrow’s (Depp) shadow.
Just before Will and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) can be wed, they’re unjustly jailed, forcing Will to strike a deal for their freedom: He’s to retrieve a special compass that Jack always carries on his person. This sets Will off on a series of his own seafaring adventures.
“He goes from being a strait-laced kind of upright stick in the mud to becoming more of a bit of a pirate in this one, thankfully,” Bloom said. “It was kind of like discovering my inner pirate for the first time.”
The sequel, in theaters now, also allows Will to grow emotionally, questioning his romance with Elizabeth. Their love story echoes that of legendary pirate Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), who locked his heart in a box so his more tender emotions wouldn’t make him vulnerable.
“In the second movie, we are dealing with real life. You deal with jealousy. You deal with how they are going to end up,” Bloom said. “For them to survive, it’s an interesting parallel which gets more elaborated in the third film, which is the love story of Davy Jones and why did he pull out his heart? And how that relates to the love story of Elizabeth and Will. I mean, are they on the same path, and are they going to pull out of that nosedive?”
But any self-respecting pirate movie doesn’t just deal with emotions; there’s plenty of action too. Bloom’s guardian angel was put to the test for several scenes, including one in which he sword fights atop and inside a rolling waterwheel.
“Going upside-down and stuff and sword fighting in there, I was all harnessed so I couldn’t fall out, obviously,” he said. “But it’s just like, because of gravity, you’re really reaching, and at one point … it’s pulling you the other way.”
Another challenging scene had Bloom and other actors playing priates confined in a spherical cage made of victims’ bones. “The bone cage was merely uncomfortable. Know what I mean?,” Bloom said. “It was like running with that thing between your legs. You’re watching for the crown jewels the whole time.”
Notoriously accident-prone Bloom once fell three stories and was told he wouldn’t walk again. He did, and cracked a rib a year later on the “Lord of the Rings” set.
So far during the filming of the “Pirates” sequels, he’s come away unscathed.