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December 8, 2003 With 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' opening in theaters nationwide December 17, ET's LEONARD MALTIN is with ORLANDO BLOOM as he talks about the epic film project that took over his live for almost three years and created lifelong friendships! "All of these characters are prepared to put aside their racial differences," Orlando tells Leonard. "As an elf, with a hobbit or a dwarf, they're prepared to put their lives on the line for their friends and Middle Earth, and that's a very heroic statement in itself." Orlando says he doesn't mind being called a heartthrob and is very grateful to his fans for supporting him and the movies he's been a part of. "The messages and themes that run through [the movie] are all about friendship and camaraderie, fighting for the greater good of the whole, and it's all set within this realm of fantasy, so it's a safe place," says the 26-year-old English actor. "It's been a great shaping of my career and me as a human actually; me as Orlando." In the movie, Orlando helps to protect ELIJAH WOOD, who plays the diminutive Hobbit hero Frodo and is nearing the end of his harrowing journey to throw the One Ring into the fires of Mt. Doom. In the midst of all the chaos, Frodo struggles with the lure of the Ring and must battle the giant spider Shelob, all the while accompanied by his trusty pal Sam (SEAN ASTIN) and the treacherous Gollum (ANDY SERKIS), who's just drooling for a chance to grab the bauble. The white wizard Gandalf (IAN McKELLEN) also battles Saruman's (CHRISTOPHER LEE) forces, and the ranger Aragorn (Mortensen) finally takes on the mantle of king with a little extra help from Legolas the Elf (Orlando) and Gimli the Dwarf (JOHN RHYS-DAVIES) -- all to save Middle Earth from the clutches of the dark lord Sauron. The first two 'Lord of the Rings' films made a king-sized killing at the box office and were nominated for multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture, acknowledging the craftsmanship, attention to detail and care the filmmakers put into this adaptation of the well-known J.R.R. TOLKIEN book. |