Legolas loses his nerve in 'The Calcium Kid'

24 Mar 2004

After his worldwide success in Pirates Of The Caribbean and Lord Of The Rings, movie fans are used to seeing Orlando Bloom as the dashing hero in big-budget blockbusters.

But the chisel-jawed actor has reinvented himself for his latest flick, in which he plays a nervous everyman facing a rather daunting challenge. In the low-budget movie The Calcium Kid he plays a milkman who, by a bizarre twist of fate, finds himself contesting the world boxing championship.

And his character, Jimmy, couldn't be further from the fearless Legolas. Indeed he is so scared of his opponent that he begs his trainer to knock him out before the bell rings for the start of the bout.

"Jimmy's just simple, straightforward," explains the 27-year-old. "He's a working man of the people, a geezer. He's just an everyday lad making his way through life, which is the way I feel too."

In real life, however, Orlando is known as something of a daredevil. He has injured himself dozens of times thanks to his passion for extreme sports like bungee jumping and snowboarding.

And those fans who prefer to think of him as an intrepid leading man needn't worry about him going soft, because the actor is said to be in the running to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. Producers are eager to continue the series with a younger 007, and studio insiders say Orlando is the frontrunner to take over the role.