Let's see, he's got long, straight blonde hair and the cutest little pointy ears and carries a bow around all the time…right? Uh.. make that curly brown hair, rounded ears and he wears tennies with no socks that he keeps kicking off under the table during our interview. Hottie of the moment, Orlando Bloom turned in his Lord of the Rings Legolas elf ears and hits the high seas with Johnny Depp in the swashbuckling, action/comedy Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of the Black Pearl. He'll also be seen soon with Heath Ledger in the Western adventure Ned Kelly and is working in Malta now in the Greek epic Troy with Brad Pitt and "Hulk" Eric Bana.

Sitting down with me in the St. Regis Hotel in Los Angeles recently, Orlando, in understated gray tee-shirt and jeans (and those discarded tennies) admitted he could use some lunch. Using his LOTR tattooed arm, he pointed to my tiny digital tape recorder with teeny little microphone and said "What's that? That's a really cute little thing isn't it?". Of course, by now I'm staring at cutie Orlando and totally agreeing.

AGW: So how good are you with a sword- in every movie you're there with a sword!

Orlando: [laughter] Crazy isn't it? I haven't chosen it like that. I haven't been, 'is there a sword in that movie? Alright I'll do it!' No. It's just kind of worked like that! Now I have these great skills that are completely useless in everyday life you know what I mean? [laughter] Like bow and arrow. what am I going to do with that walking down the street?

AGW: Are you a fan of pirate movies?

Orlando: I used to play pirates in the back yard as a kid sort of thing. Pirate movies, yeah, I mean they used to be on Sunday afternoons on TV when I was growing up. It was like one of those things to watch and always really enjoy. I watched, like Master of Ballantrae [with Errol Flynn] stuff. Bob Anderson, who was the sword master, was talking about that and he doubled Errol Flynn in that movie and I wanted to see what that was like. And I watched Captain Blood and stuff.

AGW: It looks like you guys had a blast making this film. Did you hang out with Johnny or Keira [Knightley, his leading lady]?

Orlando: Yeah. Johnny had a great boat. We went over at different times. Yeah, it was awesome. I remember kayaking over to it and just hanging out for a bit and catching up. It was cool. We just hung out. Talked about stuff. He was writing something and it was cool. It was mellow.

AGW: You and Johnny have some great scenes together in the film. What was it like working with him?

Orlando: I was so envious of what Johnny was doing. But Johnny created that character [Jack Sparrow]. That didn't read like that on the page. I mean, that's what Johnny does. That's what's so amazing about him. Jack Sparrow read like a bit of a rogue, but could have been like a straight rogue. Johnny creates this drunken sea-legged, Keith Richards number.

AGW: He said it was like the Depp and Bloom comedy routine at one point.

Orlando: It was like the odd couple. It just sort of happened. I mean, I would go off him. He's the guy, you know what I mean? The way he played Jack left it open for me to play Will in a certain way. Will was written like a straight-shooting, true blue, honest sort of hero character. But had Johnny played his as more of the hero character it might have conflicted. But Johnny left it wide open for me just to go the whole hog on the hero number. And then I would be like 'forget my close-up, just give me a two shot [with Johnny in it] because it was just great to do stuff with him.

AGW: Your career was really launched with "Rings". How has all the sudden fame affected you?

Orlando: It's great. I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work. I'm an actor and that's what we love to do, But it's kind of weird when your dreams start to be realized a little bit. It's like I never really thought I'd be doing what I'm doing. I never thought it was possible. It's always like one in a million get the opportunity, So the idea that I could be one was sort of not really something I thought about. It's slightly overwhelming as well, and unnerving because there's a lot of stuff that goes along with it that you don't bank on. And that's been great. To work with Johnny and to work with Brad [Pitt] now, to pick their brains about how they've dealt with the fame element of it. Because it isn't easy actually like to figure it all out, and I'm still trying to do that right now.

AGW: How important are the choices you're making right now?

Orlando: Very. Really important. It's like a rite of passage. You have to do a certain amount of stuff in order to put yourself in a position where you can make choices. I think if I got the choice I would start to sort of downscale a bit and do more sort of human, dramatic, character-driven pieces where you get to see less of a show and more of an actor. I'm holding out for a 'three guys sitting around a table playing cards' movie. I just think it would be good for me to do something like that just to show that I'm not just an action, reaction, one line man.

AGW: What was the most difficult aspect about filming this?

Orlando: It was a lot of fun. Being on the ocean, I love being on the ocean. But you've got a lot of people in a small space out in the middle of the sea and some people don't like being on the ocean. So that was kind of overwhelming. But it was a fun shoot. There was nothing too difficult. The character of Will Turner was a great character for me to play, and he wasn't too daunting.

AGW: There is a ton of gossip about you. Is it hard when you read that stuff?

Orlando: No. I mean, whatever. People talk. I don't care. I mean, It's not true. I know what's true. My friends and family know what's true, the people closest to me. And hopefully I try to maintain an integrity as an actor that will quash any rumors that come up like that, because that's all I can do.

AGW: Also, is it hard to do a performance and then when you go to see the film it's not what you thought you did, or the editor changed the scene?

Orlando: [kicking off his shoes again] Oh it's the worst! That sometimes happens but I suppose that's part of the job isn't it? And you can only do what you can and at the end of the day you have to put yourself in the hands of the people who share the vision. As a young actor, you have to pay your dues and fortunately I've been able to do that in great movies.

AGW: Are you on break from shooting Troy right now?

Orlando: I just managed to get out for a couple of days to do some of this. I have to go straight back. We're in Malta right now. I'm playing Paris. Paris is like the anti-hero. He creates the mess that needs to be cleared up. He's just a young guy who's madly in love with Helen and he doesn't really realize the consequences of his actions. He's foolish and he creates a lot of mess. It was interesting to me to try and step into the role of someone like that and see if I could do something with that character and try and find the human element to him. He's a lover not a fighter in a time when it's all about being a man and honor.

AGW: Are most of your scenes with Brad Pitt or Eric Bana?

Orlando: I've got a lot with Eric, with Peter O'Toole, with Diane Kruger who plays Helen. Eric's just a great guy. We have so much fun. He's such a lovely man. And Diane Kruger's beautiful and does a great job of playing Helen, so I'm really very lucky. Brad is a fantastic guy and doing a great job and somebody told me there's a story somebody wrote that he uses steroids. Do me a favor! The guy has an amazing trainer. He doesn't need to. I had a strange experience in Malta with Brad. We had a cast dinner and we all left and went to a bar. We had to walk a hundred meters to the bar and the whole of the town swooned on this guy! It was insane. They were just trying to touch him. I was freaked out. He was so composed Man. He was like, "just keep walking. Don't stop walking and we'll be fine, If you stop it can get really scary." He's got a bodyguard with him.

AGW: Do you feel like you're just soaking up as much info from great actors as you can?

Orlando: Yeah. I mean, feel really lucky, because I've worked under great people who just kind of raise the bar the whole time. I mean, when you work with Peter O'Toole, and the whole cast of Lord of the Rings, the role models like Viggo were for me and Johnny and Brad. That's like three leading men there. Maybe Daniel Day Lewis will be kind of interesting too. That covers a lot of territory right there in terms of people that I can learn from and they're all so gracious.

AGW: You've done so much since Lord of the Rings ended for you, but we haven't seen the end of it yet. Have you moved past it?

Orlando: It's kind of odd to go back and sit down and see the movie. I mean, it was weird to see the second movie because I've changed so much and I thought, oh God, I would have done that different now. What was I thinking? I obviously wasn't. I was so nervous. I'm so tense. There's things like that, but it was an opportunity and I love that character. I tried really hard to get it right and Peter Jackson was amazing and directed me really well and I feel lucky.

AGW: Is there anything new for Return of the King? Did you do any reshoots?

Orlando: Yeah. I was so emotional to say goodbye to that. Ahhh it's the last time I get to don the blonde wigs and the pointy ears. They gave me my bow and arrow after the last shot and they cut together a little clip of "leggy" moments from the movie. We had such a laugh. You should see the photos - the Polaroids we've got. [laughter] But it was so much fun. The gag reel he's going to do is going to be all of that.

AGW: Some of the other cast members took some souvenirs from "Pirates". Did you?

Orlando: [pirate voice] I took a bit of plunder. I took a few gold coins and stuff.

AGW: One of those cursed ones?

Orlando: Those cursed things, yeah. [frowns] Uh oh…..