The aspiring actor from Canterbury has come a long way since his drama student days. Now his drinking sessions with close mates Johnny Depp and Heath Ledger are stealing as many headlines as his blockbuster films, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean and Troy. At just 28, Orlando Bloom has Hollywood falling at his feet. And most of the female population when you consider his exes include Jemma Kidd and Sienna Miller.

Ok we admit we might have let out a small cheer in January when Orlando announced he had split with Beyond the sea star Kate Bosworth (after she allegedly became fed up of coming second place to his nights out with the lads.) But since then, they've been spotted sharing romantic dinners and holding hands at the Oscars. With big brown eyes and cascading curls, who can blame the girl for giving him a second chance? And although he's not keen to talk about his private life, could it be that Orlando is doing things differently this time round? 'You have so many relationships in life, and they're all hard' he concedes 'With your mother, your friends, your lover, yourself. I'd like to try and master all of them' From bloke's bloke to sensitive soul. Orlando seems to have it all….

We were sorry to hear about your break up with Kate...

Thanks. But we're on very good terms. We're very close. We both have a lot of time apart for work coming up and we thought we would leave the door open by talking about it and letting it go right now.

You moved to London when you were 16. Was it a crazy time?

I expected to meet a whole bunch of new mates instantly, but London can be such a lonely city at first. I soon found my niche though - clubbing and clothes! I used to go all these clubs with great names like Hollywood Babylon and Billion dollar babes. It was an amazing party scene with beautiful women, a mixed gay crowd, transvestites, go-go girls…just a whole load of night creatures. Everyone forgot about their job and became models or movie stars for the night….ironic huh? Trust me, it's much easier faking it.

Do you ever regret leaving your life over here to live in Hollywood?

London is my home. I have family in America, and I've spent enough time there to feel that I have some semblance of life there, but London and England, keeps you very real.. The lifestyle here keeps you grounded. Waking up in the morning when it's grey and wet, and you have to get the tube to work, can get on top of you, but that's what I love about it. I love the changing seasons. I love it when it rains - when you've been away so much, you appreciate that even more.

Have you been influenced by LA's obsession with working and dieting?

I'm kind of fit. And I'm careful about my diet. I don't do dairy at all, which proved tricky when I was filming The Calcium Kid and I had to keep drinking milk.

You're to star in another sword fighting epic, Kingdom of Heaven. Is the sword thing just automatically written in your contract now?

[laughs] Yes, but I haven't been given the responsibility of something like a Ridley Scott movie before. The man's a genius. I read the script on the pane and met with Ridley, and 24 hours later was in front of the camera with a prosthetic beard and blood on my face. I wanted it so badly! I do feel like I'm from another time though. I can hardly use my phone and I'm totally computer illiterate.

So you haven't seen the thousands of websites dedicated to you?

All that internet stuff - and the bagful of letters mum gets sent to her house - is a bit crazy. I'm flattered and it's all very nice, but it's like I trained for three years as an actor…..and this has nothing to do with acting. I guess the heart-throb thing is a rite of passage for young actors. Celebrity and stardom were never things I wanted. I mean, it's really starting to make me nervous.

How do you deal with being confronted by thousands of screaming girls?

To tell you the truth I feel very uncomfortable. When I see people who have whipped themselves into a frenzy like that, I just have to zone out. It's not like the person they're excited about is really me. I'm very different to how people think I'm. I'm just a normal guy doing my bit you know what I mean? Sometimes it's hard not to be freaked out by it that I just jump off a ledge. A friend of mine tried to rationalize it for me by saying that teenage girls are always looking for somebody to pin their hopes and dreams on, whether it's an actor or a guy from a boy band. That doesn't make it less weird though.

But life looks pretty good for you right now. Do you have any worries?

I worry constantly. I worry about being a giant success and blowing it all. Now I actually worry more about little things: being on time, what I'm going to wear, sending birthday cards, getting sick, dying.

And you almost did when you had you accident! [Orlando broke his back falling off a roof terrace in 1998…]

My accident was a wake-up call to life and responsibility, and respect for myself. It made me go - you f------ idiot. How could you even think of doing that? For a while I wasn't going to be able to walk. I wasn't going to be able to finish my course. I may never have been able to act…

Has that made you more spiritual about life now? You've got a whole string of trinkets round your neck…

One was a key ring that Johnny [Depp] gave me as a wrap present for pirates of the Caribbean. Here's a piece of green stone Billy Boyd [The Lord of the Rings co star] gave me. I found this shell on the beach in Thailand. This prayer baton I got in India. I picked up this silver tiny ball in Tokyo. This is a New York handcuff key, in case I get myself into any strife. I've always kept all these funny little things, even as a kid. But I'm trying to cut it out, become more streamlined. Other wise it starts to feel like the things own you. These things fill up my heart. If I were ever to lose them, I'd be devastated. Isn't that pathetic?

Are you very sentimental when it comes to woman?

I'm quite sensitive to women. I saw how my sister got treated by boyfriends and I promised to myself not to be like that. I read this thing that said when you're in a relationship with a woman, imagine how you would feel if you were her father. That's been my approach, for the most part. I try to be honest. What you see is what you get. My cards are on the table and if you want to have sniff round, you can. I'm not ashamed of anything.