Movieline
April 2002 (Michelle Pfeiffer on the cover)

The Standouts by The Editors

Orlando Bloom in the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Among the many smart choices director Peter Jackson made when casting the film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's vibrant Lord of the Rings trilogy, his gutsiest was to embellish a roster that included masters like Ian McKellen, gifted new stars like Cate Blanchett, underused lookers like Viggo Mortensen and hobbit dead-ringers like Elijah Wood with the addition - in a crucial role - of a complete unknown.

Fresh from a three-year haul at drama school, the 25-year-old, felicitously named British actor Orlando Bloom was picked to play Elf warrior Legolas Greenleaf. Early stills of the film revealed a suspiciously Casper Van Dien-like (personal note: eek) presence that made one wonder. On-screen, Bloom was something else. He did have an almost unreal, cheekbone-bedecked handsomeness, but he also moved with crystalline resolve and athletic grace. Even when a million things are happening at once, Bloom grabs your attention and makes you feel everything that depends on the great battle! of good and evil.

Fortunately for us, Bloom will play beefed-up roles in the final films of the trilogy, The Two Towers and The Return of the King.