Orlando Bloom stars alongside our own Heath Ledger in Ned Kelly.He tells TV Hits his latest character is anything but Joe average...

TV Hits: Hey Orlando! Set us straight with your accent. You're English, but you sound different in Ned Kelly to how you sound in LOTR...

Orlando: That's true. I'm doing the Irish thing for this Ned Kelly movie...so I've got all sorts of accents< going around in there!

TV Hits: Did you enjoy being in Australia last year, making Ned Kelly with Heath Ledger?

Orlando: It's been fantastic. I had no idea about the Kelly story before I came, and now I know quite a lot. I have to say it's a great story.

TV Hits: It's a true Australia story. Did you feel pressure to make sure you did the characters justice?

Orlando: I didn't know the story that well, but I educated myself pretty quickly. It's interesting because there are lots of different versions about exactly what Ned Kelly and his gang were like.

TV Hits: Did you find it more interesting to play someone who had a whole life story for you to research than someone from fictional Middle-Earth?

Orlando: I love that I'm playing someone who was part of history. I love the story the fact that he's a folk hero and so close to the people's heart.

TV Hits: Even though they robbed people, you think the Kelly gang can still be heroes?

Orlando: When I look at things like the fact that [my character] Joe Byrne was in jail for three months  at one time for illegal possession of meat...you start to see how these guys ended up doing what they were doing. You think about the hardship and the conditions they were living in and you get a better understanding of what it was all about.

TV Hits: Will we be seeing a lot of you, beard and all, or is it just Heath's movie?

Orlando: Heath's the lead and doing a fantastic job, But the gang is very important. I believe they all have a part to play.

TV Hits:Last time you spoke to TV Hits you told us Joe was "the cool one", what else can you tell us about him?

Orlando: Joe, in my mind, is kind of like Ned's right hand man. He's Ned's first lieutenant and makes sure everything 's sorted out. Joe's the most educated of the guys. He could read and write. He also spoke Cantonese because he hung out with the Chinese miners at the time. He's a very interesting guy.

TV Hits: Do you think your Joe is close to the real thing?

Orlando: There are many different descriptions, so I had to formulate a Joe in my head, which is as close as I can make it to what I can gather was the real man.

TV Hits: Did Heath pay the same sort of attention to historical facts?

Orlando: Being a Australian and knowing the importance of the story to Australians is something he's really taken on-board. I'm sure he feels a certain pressure to do a good job of it, but he's coping very well and he's done a fantastic job.

TV Hits: Did you get on well with him? He's developed a bit of a rep for being less friendly since moving to Hollywood.

Orlando: He's been a great co-worker. I don't see him as aloof of anything. He's a young guy who's got a lot of pressure from the outside and he's dealing with celebrity and all the stuff that goes with that, which can be quite hard to cope with at times. He just gets on with life and deals with his job.

TV Hits: You've worked with lots of Aussie actors on the LOTR flicks and Ned Kelly. What do you think of
them?

Orlando: You're breeding some really solid actors, that's for sure. I love the way that people are down-to-earth there [Australia and New Zealand] compared to home. I'm going to miss it.

TV Hits: You don't have a girlfriend, so who keeps you company when you're somewhere like Australia for months on end?

Orlando: I have friends and family, and one of the best things about being in the position I am in now is that
they come and visit me. My sister came to Australia to be wit me while I was working on Ned Kelly and I also had a few friends come to visit.

TV Hits: Does being famous make it easier to meet girls?

Orlando: I don't think it does. When you're a bit famous, people have an idea in their head about who they think they are, based around the roles you've played and the things they've read.

TV Hits: What happens when they finally meet you?

Orlando: They're either disappointed or scared! It's a weird situation to be in. It should make it easier-but really it just makes it more complicated.

TV Hits: Did you get to know Naomi Watts during the time she was getting romantic with Heath on the set of Ned Kelly?

Orlando: She did most of her scenes with Heath, actually. I met her over dinner one time when we all had a group dinner one time but I didn't hang out with her that much otherwise. She was only in for a week or so.

TV Hits: Where's home these days?

Orlando: I'm in between London and L.A. at the moment.

TV Hits: Right now, what's the best thing about being Orlando Bloom?

Orlando: The opportunity to live a life that enables me to re-enact characters like Legolas and Joe Byrne, and to travel and experience different cultures and people.

TV Hits: Last question. What's the worst thing about you?

Orlando: Missing the family and friends! It's the great contraction about my life. I love my work means I can travel a lot and be busy. But on the other hand I hate
that it takes me away from the people that I care about. This life can be quite lonely. You don't get to see as much of the people you love.

       COMING SOON!

The Movie: The Calcium Kid
Expect it: 2003
The Deal: He plays an amateur boxer and milkman, named Jimmy, who ends up in the ring with the world camp! The flick also features pop star Billie Piper in a small role.

The Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean
Expect it: Sometime this year
The Deal: Orlando is shipwreck survivor Will Turner, who comes across a bunch of ghastly, ghostly pirates in this swashbuckling flick. Inspired by the Disney theme park ride of the same names, Pirates also stars Johnny Depp and Orlando's Aussie Ned Kelly co-star, Geoffrey Rush.

The Movie: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Expect it: Just before Christmas
The Deal: It's the final of the three films and our last chance to see him as the elf Legolas. He says: "Oh man... the third one is going to be this great finale that I guarantee everyone will be hanging out to see t."

The Movie: Troy
Expect it:2004
The Deal: It's set in the year 1193BC and Orlando plays Prince Paris of Troy, who steals the wife of King of Sparta, triggering an epic war between the two nations. It's based on Greek mythology and stars not only Brad Pitt but also Orlando's Black Hawk Down Aussie co-star Eric Bana.