Sure, Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow stole all the scenes in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, but Orlando Bloom’s Will Turner got away with the girl. But even as Will discovers his inner buccaneer, things aren’t so easy in the sequel, as Bloom explains—along with his thoughts on his own personal challenges—to Hollywood.com in a swashbuckling conversation.
Hollywood.com: Was returning to the role of Will Turner like picking up where you left off, both on and off screen?
Orlando Bloom: Yeah, it was just like that. I think that no one expected us to be making another two films when we’d made the first one. It was like, “Okay, Pirates of the Caribbean—done.” But then with the success of it, they were like, “Let’s do some more!” So thankfully, because of I think the talent of the writers, and the vision of Jerry [Bruckheimer] and the producers and Disney and Gore [Verbinski]—Gore had created a story that could evolve and it did, and it felt very natural and very comfortable. The characters were really developed and it felt like they went on a journey. It didn’t feel forced. I feel like Will develops as a character—and I feel like they all do.
HW: Where do you see Will’s evolution?
OB: Don’t you think he’s a bit more pirate and a bit less of a stick-in-the-mud? I hope you do, because that was kind of the intention. I get a pair of boots instead of those little shoes that I was wearing and stockings—which weren’t cool at all, in my opinion. So I got a pair of pirate boots, which was a good start. There is a dark side to Will that I think sort of evolves a little bit, because he starts to assume this pirate thing. It’s like, “Who is this pirate?” He begins to develop that real pirate thing.
HW: Sometimes your chemistry with Johnny is as potent as it is with Keira. What makes you two so good working off one another in these films?
OB: He’s really good and I can be straight. He’s just fantastic. He sets up the moments and I just play them so straight that it’s just funny, because you’re not quite sure whether Will is getting it or not getting it. That’s what’s funny. It’s sort of like, “Does Will realize that he’s being completely f**ked with or not?”
HW: After doing the three back-to-back Lord of the Rings films, did you have any trepidation about finding yourself in another de facto trilogy?
OB: I didn’t know that it was going to be that, and I wouldn’t refer to it as getting stuck, not when you’re talking about something like this. I didn’t know that I was going to be doing another trilogy. No. When I did Pirates my manager called me up and said, “This is going to be a great opportunity.” And then Johnny signed up and I was working with Geoffrey [Rush] at the time and he was going to do it, and so it felt very, very fated that I managed to be a part of that. I felt very lucky to do it. I was shooting a film with Geoffrey Rush and Heath Ledger called Ned Kelly, and it was a real gritty, Australian down-and-dirty genre, and then when I got a phone call saying that there was a pirate movie based on a Disney ride called Pirates of the Caribbean, I was like, “No thanks.” But then Geoffrey signed up for it, and then he explained it to me. And actually Jerry had talked about it a while ago. He had talked about it when we were doing Black Hawk Down. He sort of mentioned this project, the idea of this project. It wasn’t like I was easily persuaded, but it sort of came together and I got it. It was like, “This is a great opportunity. Let’s do it.”
HW: Sometimes it works out fabulously, with blockbusters like the Peter Jackson films and Pirates, and sometimes not as well. Your first non-ensemble starring role was in Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown, and the reviews weren’t kind.
OB: [Mock-upset] Did it get bad reviews? Sheesh! No one told me it got bad reviews. Did you give it a bad review? [Laughs] No, are you kidding me? I don’t regret a single moment. I would go back and do any of it all over again. He’s the quintessential American director. I got to do my first leading role with an American accent in the hands of Cameron Crowe. I wouldn’t give that up for the world, man, and I love that movie… When I say that I don’t read reviews, I’m serious. I don’t know. I really don’t know how they get received, but there is obviously a lot of expectation when you’ve been in a trilogy of movies like Lord of the Rings and you’re in a hit like Pirates of the Caribbean and Troy is a big blockbuster with Brad Pitt–there is a big expectation. If that doesn’t come to fruition in the eyes of what’s deemed to be acceptable by whoever it is that deems it acceptable, then there is a little bit of like, “Well, yeah.” But to me, would I trade any of those experiences? Never…You can’t please all the people all the time. It was an experience and I’ve learned a lot from it. I’ve grown. What I’ve learned is that life is a pendulum. It’s a swing. You’re going to be up and you’re going to be down, and you’re going to go up again and you’re going to go down again.
HW: There’s another film of yours on the horizon that also shot in the Caribbean?
OB: Haven—it’s coming out September 15th and I cannot wait for it to see the light of day because for me that was a truly gifted experience. I mean, I shot more in one day than I have in the whole of the Pirates sequels probably. I mean, we would do like eight scenes a day with big dialogue, big moments and it was a first time, 23-year-old Caymanian young man directing in his home land of the Cayman Islands. They had never had a movie there before. We went there and shot this film and it was spontaneous. It was exciting and spontaneous. If it is a complete failure in the eyes of whoever calls it a failure, I don’t care because it’s not about that. It’s about the experience. Johnny, by the way, he said to me at one point really early on in my first movie working with him, he said, “I’ve made a career out of making movies which are failures, or considered to be failures.” And to me he’s had one of the most courageous, exciting, spontaneous careers to date. So sometimes you have to take the knock.
HW: You admire Johnny professionally—and desire to emulate his off-screen life, with a companion and children?
OB: I can’t wait to be married with kids, but I’m still young. How old was Johnny when he got married and had kids? He’s not married, but he’s got kids, and he started that at 35 or 40. I mean, it’s like there is a lot of living to do. What’s the hurry, and especially–it’s difficult talking about my relationship, and I don’t talk about it because it’s my relationship. But I’ll tell you what’s hard: It’s hard to be in the public eye all of the time. It’s hard to clean up the mess of someone talking sh*t about you. It’s annoying and it puts strain on you. I won’t deny that.
HW: Does your mother ever call you up worried about something she’s read?
OB: Oh God, my mother. Yes. I’m like, “Mom, who do you believe? Someone who talks rubbish and creates something, or your son who is 29 years old and you’ve known since he was born and brought into the world?” She believes the rubbish. So do I.
HW: What about the side of the business that leads to photographers going after you and invading your personal life all the time? How do you deal with that?
OB: I’ve got a couple of caves and I bury myself in them. I’ve bought a coffee shop so that I can get coffee whenever I like. No. I’m joking. I’ve got a really good coffee machine at home. No, I just get on with it. Some days it’s harder than others. Some days you can go out and get on with your life and no one even notices you and then other days you’ve got ten cars trailing you all with a camera and you go, “Where did you come from?” Sometimes I can be with my dog. Sometimes I can be with my partner. Sometimes I can be with my sister.
HW: And have you and your partner [Superman Returns’ Kate Bosworth] made bets as to whose movie is going to open bigger?
OB: [Laughs] No. I saw it last night. I’m so proud of her. It’s important that when big movies are made in this town that they are as good as the movie that I think she’s made, and that I hope Pirates 2 is going to be, because an audience has an expectation. When you make a movie and they have an expectation and it doesn’t deliver, that’s when people start to worry. People go, “The audience is losing faith in the industry and they’re just going to go buy DVDs because the movie going experience isn’t the same.” I want every movie to be a huge success because that way it excites people to keep wanting to go to the movies, which gives me a job.
HW: Do you think Johnny has the right approach to fame, by generally removing himself from the Hollywood scene when he’s not working?
OB: I can understand why Johnny does that. I can understand why people remove themselves and it’s a very sad fact that people are driven to do that at some point or another. I get it. It’s changed in many ways. My experience is very different. You know when you see behind the Wizard’s curtain? I’ve kind of seen behind the Wizard’s curtain and I like it. It’s just less scary and I see how the machine works and it was pretty scary to begin with. I’m 29 as well. I’m growing up and I’m learning a lot about my life and who I am as a person, and I just realize that what doesn’t kill me will only make me stronger.
HW: You’re 29. Are you looking forward to turning 30?
OB: Yeah. I think it’s going to be great—I’ll be 30.
HW: What are you going to do to celebrate?
OB: I don’t know. I’m not a big partier like that. I like to party. I like to dance and whatever, but I’m not one of those guys who throws lavish parties for the sake of it. I sort of feel like it’s a bit of noise. It’s not my thing. But I will probably get a few friends together and get together in a way that’s hopefully private and fun.
