Birthday's to share this week : 25th September-1st October 2016

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Naomi Watts does on 28th September - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 48, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 25th September

• Heather Locklear - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actress | Producer
• Catherine Zeta-Jones - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actress | Singer
• Michael Douglas - Born 1944, turns 72 - Actor | Producer
• Pedro Almodovar - Born 1949, turns 67 - Director | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter
• Mark Hamill - Born 1951, turns 65 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Michael Madsen - Born 1958, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Jason Flemyng - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Will Smith - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter  

Monday 26th September

• Jim Caviezel - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor
• Linda Hamilton - Born 1956, turns 60 - Actress
• Olivia Newton-John - Born 1948, turns 68 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress  

Tuesday 27th September

• Gwyneth Paltrow - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Denis Lawson - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Meat Loaf (aka Marvin or Michael Lee Aday)- Born 1947, turns 69 - Singer | Actor | Producer  

Wednesday 28th September

• Brigitte Bardot - Born 1934, turns 82 - Actress | Singer
• Mira Sorvino - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actress | Producer
• Naomi Watts - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actress | Producer
• Hilary Duff - Born 1987, turns 29 - Actress | Producer | Singer | Songwriter  

Thursday 29th September

• Ian McShane - Born 1942, turns 74 - Actor | Producer
• Luke Goss - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Nicolas Winding Refn - Born 1970, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Friday 30th September

• Ezra Miller - Born 1992, turns 24 - Actor
• Eric Stoltz - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Director 
• Ian Ogilvy - Born 1943, turns 73 - Actor
• Angie Dickinson - Born 1931, turns 85 - Actress
• Victoria Tennant - Born 1950, turns 66 - Actress | Producer
• Fran Drescher - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director
• Monica Bellucci - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actress
• Marion Cotillard - Born 1975, turns 41 - Actress | Singer  

Saturday 1st October

• Brie Larson - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director
• Julie Andrews - Born 1935, turns 81 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Randy Quaid - Born 1950, turns 66 - Actor | Producer
• Zach Galifianakis - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Tom Hooper - Born 1972, turns 44 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Naomi Ellen Watts was born in Shoreham, Kent, England to mother Myfanwy Roberts - a dealer in antiques and latterly a costume/set designer for film and television, and father Peter Watts who died at age 30 of an apparent heroin overdose. He was a sound engineer and road manager for British progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Her parents divorced when the young Watts was just four years of age, and within three years her father was dead. The family, including older brother Ben then moved to North Wales where she attended Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni. Three or so years later her mother remarried and the family moved to Suffolk, in East Anglia where she attended the Thomas Mills High School. In 1980 she saw the hit song and dance film 'Fame' and seeing her mother perform live on stage cemented a career as an Actress in Naomi's mind. At age fourteen the family relocated to Sydney, Australia where mother Myfanwy established a career in the film and television business. Taking acting lessons and attending auditions she met up, and became good friends with young Nicole Kidman. In Sydney she attended Mosman High School and then North Sydney Girls High School, but failing to graduate she worked sundry jobs to pay her way. At eighteen she had a brief time with a modelling agency which proved unsuccessful. She then took part in a drama workshop by chance invitation, which reignited her interest in acting.

Watts secured her screen debut in the 1986 Australian film 'For Love Alone' Directed by Stephen Wallace and starring Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving and Hugh Keays-Byrne. After a period of absence her next gig was on the long running Australian comedy series 'Hey Dad' in 1990, and then five episodes of the six part mini-series 'The Brides of Christ' in 1991. That same year was John Duigan's 'Flirting' with Noah Taylor, Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton in this sequel to the 1987 'The Year My Voice Broke' and was critically acclaimed. She followed this up with nineteen episodes on the Australian weekday soap opera 'Home and Away' in 1991 as the handicapped character Julie Gibson. She then took a 'gap year' and travelled to the USA and through Nicole Kidman's network sought to secure more acting work.

This led to small roles in the likes of Joe Dante's 'Matinee' with John Goodman in 1993 and then a return to Australia for three in a row with 'Wide Sargasso Sea' for John Duigan again, 'The Custodian' with Hugo Weaving and Anthony LaPaglia, and 'Gross Misconduct' with Jimmy Smits. Returning to the US Watts struggled to gain any traction with her acting work and became increasingly frustrated by the US film and television making machine. Encouraged to stick with it by good friend Nicole Kidman, she won a support role in 'Tank Girl' with Lori Petty, Ice-T and Malcolm McDowell.

The rest of the 90's saw small parts in feature length and made for television movies including 'Persons Unknown', 'Under the Lighthouse Dancing', 'Dangerous Beauty', 'and 'Strange Planet'. There was also 'Sleepwalkers' - a short-lived nine episode SciFi mystery drama series with Bruce Greenwood, and then perhaps her breakout role in 1999's David Lynch Directed 'Mulholland Drive' with Justin Theroux. Originally intended as a made for television film pilot for an extended TV series, it was never picked up by the networks. When it wasn't, Lynch completed the deliberately open ended pilot with a conclusion which he filmed in late 2000 and turned that into a feature length film released in 2001 to critical acclaim, picking up 46 award wins and another 57 nominations - many for Lynch's Directing, but also numerous for Watt's performance.

The American English language remake of the Japanese horror 'Ringu' with 2002's 'The Ring' receive further critical and commercial success with Watts in the lead role as investigative journalist Rachel Keller. Watts reprised her role in the 2005 follow up 'The Ring Two', but not the 2016 third film in the franchise 'Rings' still yet to be released but due before the end  of the year. The Australian bio-pic 'Ned Kelly' for Director Gregor Jordan with Heath Ledger in the title role alongside Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush and Joel Edgerton came in 2003, as did 'La Divorce', and the highly praised '21 Grams' for Alejandro G. Inarritu with Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro picking up 29 award wins and 73 nominations including an Oscar nod for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Watts.

'We Don't Live Here Anymore' with Mark Ruffalo, 'The Assassination of Richard Nixon' with Sean Penn, 'I Heart Huckabees' with Dustin Hoffman, 'Ellie Parker', 'Stay' with Ewan McGregor, and Peter Jackson's 'King Kong' remake with Adrien Brody and Jack Black in 2005 saw Watts playing the role of Ann Darrow made famous by Fay Wray in the 1933 version of the film. Jackson's film was another critical and commercial success story making US$550M from a US$207M budget and earning 45 award wins and another 92 nominations. For the balance of the decade highlights were David Cronenberg's 'Eastern Promises' with Viggo Mortensen, 'Funny Games' with Tim Roth, and 'The International' with Clive Owen.

The new decade kicked off in 2010 with Woody Allen's 'You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger', then Doug Liman's 'Fair Game' with Sean Penn again, Jim Sheridan's 'Dream Home' with Daniel Craig, Clint Eastwood's 'J. Edgar' with Leonardo DiCaprio, 'The Impossible' with Ewan McGregor again, 'Diana' as Princess Diana Spencer, and then Alejandro G. Inarritu's 'Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance' with Michael Keaton which garnered 186 award wins and another 265 award nominations. 'St. Vincent' followed in 2014 with 'While We're Young' with Ben Stiller, 'The Sea of Trees' with Matthew McConaughey, 'About Ray' and 'Demolition' with Jake Gyllenhaal bringing us up to date, save for her reprised role as Evelyn in 'Insurgent', 'Allegiant' and the 2017 release of 'Ascendant' - the final film in the 'Divergent' series.

Next up is 'The Bleeder' with Liev Schreiber, 'Shut In' due later this year, 'The Glass Castle' with Brie Larson currently filming, 'The Book of Henry' now completed filming, new television series 'Gypsy' with Billy Crudup, and the series return of the highly acclaimed 'Twin Peaks' in 2017. Australian animated outback adventure 'Larrikins' for Tim Minchin for which Watts is lending her voice talents is currently filming for a 2018 release, and 'Ophelia' has been recently announced also for 2018 too.

All up Watts has 76 acting credits to her name and nine as Producer. To date, she has amassed 52 award wins and another 81 nominations including two Academy Award, one Golden Globe and one BAFTA nod for her work on '21 Grams' and 'The Impossible'. Watts was romantically linked to Heath Ledger from 2002 until 2004, and then Liev Schreiber since 2005 with whom she has two boys - Alexander Pete (born in 2007) and Samuel Kai (born in 2008). In 2006, she became a goodwill ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and has supported many associated initiatives in the ensuing years.

Naomi Watts - considers herself as much Australian as English; good friends with Nicole Kidman, Simon Baker, Sean Penn, Kate Hudson, Mark Ruffalo et al; has worked with the best Actors and Directors in the business; has worked across just about every genre; has been voted on numerous 'Top Lists' in the last fifteen years; practices yoga, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and is vegetarian; and continues to surprise and delight us with her film choices and her performances. Happy Birthday to you Naomi, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 19th-25th June 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Joel Edgerton does on 23rd June - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 42, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 19th June

• Paul Dano - Born 1984, turns 32 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Zoe Saldana - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Sadie Frost - Born 1965, turns 51 - Actress | Producer
• Kathleen Turner - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actress | Producer
• Gena Rowlands - Born 1930, turns 86 - Actress  

Monday 20th June

• Nicole Kidman - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Martin Landau - Born 1928, turns 88 - Actor | Producer
• Stephen Frears - Born 1941, turns 75 - Director | Producer
• John Goodman - Born 1952, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Josh Lucas - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
• Christopher Mintz-Plasse - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actor
• Robert Rodriguez - Born 1968, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Composer | Songwriter | Editor | Cinematographer | Cameraman | FX Executive  

Tuesday 21st June

• Chris Pratt - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actor
• Benjamin Walker - Born 1982, turns 34 - Actor
• David Morrissey - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Juliette Lewis - Born 1973, turns 43 - Actress | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Lana Wachowski - Born 1965, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Wednesday 22nd June

• Meryl Streep - Born 1949, turns 67 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Lindsay Wagner - Born 1949, turns 67 - Actress | Producer
• Kris Kristofferson - Born 1936, turns 80 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Bruce Campbell - Born 1958, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Uwe Boll - Born 1965, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Randy Couture - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | UFC Wrestler  

Thursday 23rd June

• Joel Edgerton - Born 1974, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Bryan Brown - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor | Producer
• Joss Whedon - Born 1964, turns 52 - Producer | Writer | Director | Actor | Editor | Composer | Songwriter
• Frances McDormand - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actress | Producer  

Friday 24th June

• Nancy Allen - Born 1950, turns 66 - Actress
• Peter Weller - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor | Director
• Dan Gilroy - Born 1959, turns 57 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Iain Glen - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actor | Producer  

Saturday 25th June

• Anthony Bourdain - Born 1956, turns 60 - Television Personality | Producer | Writer
• Timur Bekmambetov - Born 1961, turns 55 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Ricky Gervais - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Television Personality | Singer | Songwriter

Joel Edgerton was born in Blacktown, west of Sydney, Australia to mother Marianne, a housewife and mother, and father Michael, a solicitor and property developer. He has an older brother, Nash, who works as a stuntman, actor and Director, and whom Joel describes as his best friend. He graduated from The Hills Grammar School in Kenthurst, north-west of Sydney in 1991 and went onto Nepean Drama School at the University of Western Sydney from where he graduated in 1994 before appearing in various stage productions with the likes of The Sydney Theatre Company amongst others.

His first small screen appearance came on a single episode of 'Police Rescue' in 1995 with his first big screen appearance a year later in 1996 in 'Race the Sun' with Halle Berry, James Belushi, Casey Affleck, Steve Zahn and Bill Hunter. This was followed up by a nine minute short film that same year, 'Loaded' Co-Directed by brother Nash and Kieran Darcy-Smith. The following few years saw more television series roles including 'Big Sky', 'Fallen Angels', 'Spellbinder', 'Wildside' and 'Water Rats'. 'Praise' followed in 1998 for Director John Curran and the 26 minute short film 'Bloodlock' for brother Nash and Kieran Darcy-Smith once more. 'Erskineville Kings' with Hugh Jackman and 'Dogwatch' saw out the decade.

The following few years saw a number of made for television movies including 'Secret Men's Business', 'The Three Stooges' and the 'The Secret Life of Us' with Claudia Karvan and Deborah Mailman, and which spawned a spin-off television series of the same name with largely the same cast, and Edgerton reprising his role in 32 episodes as Will McGill from 2001-2002. There were also several short films including 'Gate', 'The Pitch' Written by the Edgerton brothers and Directed by Nash, 'Animalis' and 'Saturn's Return'. Perhaps the role that really established him was as Owen Lars in 'Star Wars : Episode II - Attack of the Clones' in 2002 - a role he would reprise in 2005 in 'Star Wars : Episode III - Revenge of the Sith'.

In between time, there was 'The Hard Word' with Guy Pearce and Rachel Griffiths, Gregor Jordan's 'Ned Kelly' biopic with Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush, the Sinatra biopic of the crooners tour of Australia 'The Night We Called it a Day' with Dennis Hopper and Melanie Griffiths all followed. Antoine Fuqua's epic retelling of 'King Arthur' with Clive Owen, Ray Winstone, Stellan Skarsgard and Keira Knightley, and then 'Kinky Boots' with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Nick Frost took us up to 2006.

'Open Window', 'Smokin' Aces', 'Whisper', 'The Square' Directed by Nash and written by Joel, 'Acolytes', 'Separation City' and 'The Waiting City' saw the decade out with eight episodes of Australian action drama series 'Dangerous' in 2007, and further short films 'Crossbow', 'Father' and 'Spider' again Directed by, and Co-Wriiten by brother Nash, with ABC mining drama 'Dirt Game' in 2009.

2010 saw the highly acclaimed and Oscar nominated 'Animal House' for David Michod with Jackie Weaver, then 'Warrior' with Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte, and the remake/prequel to John Carpenter's classic 'The Thing' in 2011. 'Wish You Were Here', 'The Odd Life of Timothy Green' and then highly praised Osama bin Laden hunt him down film by Katherine Bigelow 'Zero Dark Thirty' with Jessica Chastain. This was followed by his turn at Tom Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's lavish period piece 'The Great Gatsby' with Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire in this equally acclaimed production. The Police thriller 'Felony' Produced, Written and Starring Edgerton came next in 2013, with Ridley Scott's biblical epic adventure tale of brothers Moses and Ramses in 'Exodus : Gods & Kings' with Christian Bale, Ben Kingsley and John Tuturro.

'Life' followed in 2015, as did Egerton's Directorial debut with 'The Gift' which he also wrote, Produced and starred in to positive critical and commercial success making eleven times its budget outlay. 'Black Mass' with Johnny Depp in the lead role of James 'Whitey' Bulger in this true crime biographical drama set in the mid-70's South Boston area. 'Jane Got a Gun' was Co-Written for the screen by Edgerton and stars him too in this action Western that has yet to receive a cinema release in Australia, despite its release in the US at the end of January where it tanked - possibly due to its troubled production and repeatedly delayed release.

'Midnight Special' was released on a limited basis only just very recently to generally positive reviews, although it has so far only recovered one-third of its Budget costs. That film is Directed by Jeff Nichols and stars Michael Shannon, with whom Edgerton reprises that relationship next with 'Loving' due in November this year and very warmly received at this years Cannes Film Festival where the film received a standing ovation, and subsequent Oscar speculation of Edgerton's first nomination. He has lent his voice talents also over the years to '$9.99', 'Legend of the Guardians : The Owls of Ga'Hoole', and short films 'The Cartographer' and 'The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello'.

Next up is 'American Express' due next year and Directed by Nash Edgerton with Charlize Theron, Thandie Newton, David Oyelowo and Sharlto Copley, and then 'Bright' in pre-production for David Ayer with Will Smith and Noomi Rapace. All up Edgerton has 68 acting credits, nine Writer cerdits, six as Producer and three as Director. He has thirteen award wins and another 24 nominations so far.

Edgerton is an ambassador for the 'Fred Hollows Foundation' which restores eye sight to the less fortunate in poorer countries through a simple low cost procedure. In 1996 he and brother Nash Co-Founded Blue Tongue Films with Kieran Darcy-Smith and David Michod that has since produced feature films, short films and music videos for many named artists.

Joel Edgerton - multi-talented; multi-faceted across the film making game; has worked across just about all genres; is widely respected; grounded, real and has film making values that he holds dear; is clearly much sought after, and another great Australian success story - Happy Birthday to you Joel, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 11th - 17th January 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Orlando Bloom  does, on 13th January - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 11th January

• Amanda Peet - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actress
• Mary J. Blige - Born 1971, turns 44 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress
• Jason Connery - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director

Monday 12th January

• Rob Zombie - Born 1965, turns 50 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Oliver Platt - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actor | Producer
• Anthony Andrews - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor
• John Lasseter - Born 1957, turns 58 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Aaron Seltzer - Born 1974, turns 41 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Kirstie Alley - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actress | Producer

Tuesday 13th January

• Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actress | Producer
• Orlando Bloom - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
• Liam Hemsworth - Born 1990, turns 25 - Actor
• Patrick Dempsey - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• Bill Bailey - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Comedian | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Michael Pena - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actor

Wednesday 14th January

• Jason Bateman - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Carl Weathers - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor | Director
• Steven Soderbergh - Born 1963, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor | Cinematographer
• Lawrence Kasdan - Born 1949, turns 66 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Faye Dunaway - Born 1941, turns 74 - Actress | Producer
• Emily Watson - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actress

Thursday 15th January

• James Nesbitt - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor
• Mario Van Peebles - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter
• Ryan Corr - Born 1989, turns 26 - Actor

Friday 16th January

• John Carpenter - Born 1948, turns 67 - Director | Producer | Writer | Composer
• Debbie Allen - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actress | Director | Producer | Singer | Songwriter

Saturday 17th January 

• Zooey Deschanel - Born 1980, turns 35 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Jim Carey - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• James Earl Jones - Born 1931, turns 84 - Actor
• Brian Helgeland - Born 1954, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Leigh Wannell - Born 1977, turns 38 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor

Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent, England to Sonia Constance Josephine Copeland and Harry Saul Bloom. His mother was born in Kolkata, India and the man he knew in his early life as his father was a South African Political Activist - he died when Orlando was just four years old. He was raised by his mother, older sister Samantha and Colin Stone whom his mother announced when Orlando was thirteen years of age was his actual biological father.

The young Bloom attended St. Peter's Methodist Primary School, The King's School, and St. Edmund's School all in Canterbury. He struggled academically because he suffered with mild dyslexia and so immersed himself in pottery, sculpture and photography. He in turn studied poetry and prose  and with his sister gave many recitals of classic works and from the Bible. He was encouraged by his mother to take art and drama classes and in 1993 he relocated to London to complete drama, photography and sculpture classes at the Fine Arts College in Hampstead. He joined the National Youth Theatre and gained a scholarship to the British American Drama Academy.

He then began acting professionally securing roles in three episodes of BBC's hospital drama 'Casualty' and one episode of 'Midsomer Murders' before appearing with Stephen Fry in his 1997 big screen debut 'Wilde'. He then attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London to study acting. While there he fell three stories from a roof top terrace and broke his back. Beyond all expectations he made a quick and full recovery and returned to the stage. During one performance, Peter Jackson was sat in the audience, and following a post-show discussion he was cast in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy which began filming two days after he graduated. The rest as they say, is history!

His role as Legolas in the 'LOTR' series propelled Bloom into the international spotlight and mainstream - a role he would reprise a further four times in 'The Two Towers' and 'Return of the King' and then again more recently in two of the three 'The Hobbit' films 'The Desolation of Smaug' and 'The Battle of the Five Armies'. Whilst shooting the first 'Rings' film he also secured a small role in Ridley Scott's 'Black Hawk Down' in 2001 and 'Ned Kelly' in 2003 with Heath Ledger and Geoffrey Rush.

Immediately following the success of 'LOTR' came another huge franchise beckoning with the first in the epic blockbuster 'Pirates of the Carribbean' series with 2003's 'Curse of the Black Pearl' opposite Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley. His role as Will Turner was subsequently reprised in 2006's 'Dead Man's Chest' and 2007's 'At World's End', and he is rumoured to be back again for 2017's 'Dead Men tell no Tales' having skipped 'On Stranger Tides' in the meantime.

Following on came 'Troy' in 2004 Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, and starring as 'Paris' alongside Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Peter O'Toole, with 'Kingdom of Heaven' a year later for Director Ridley Scott with Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson and Edward Norton. Coming after the epic blockbuster fare largely seen up to now came 'Elizabethtown' in 2005 with Kirsten Dunst, 'New York, I Love You' in 2009 in one of the twelve short films that comprise the complete film package, and then several other roles flying largely under the radar - 'Sympathy for Delicious', 'Main Street', 'The Good Doctor', 'Zulu' and the more widely known 'The Three Musketeers' in 2011. Next up is 'Digging for Fire' with Anna Kendrick, Sam Rockwell and Sam Elliott due later this year, and then 'Unlocked' thereafter with Director Michael Apted and also starring Noomi Rapace, Toni Collette, Michael Douglas and John Malkovich.

Bloom has 38 acting credits to his name and three Producer credits thus far. He has twenty award wins and a further 21 award nominations. He was associated with Actress Kate Bosworth from 2003-2006 and married to Miranda Kerr from 2010-2013 with whom they have a son - Flynn Christopher Blanchard Copeland Bloom born in 2011. He is a practising Buddhist, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador,  and is involved in environmental organisation 'Global Green'. As wells breaking his back, he has also broken his left arm (playing rugby), his right leg (skiing), his left leg (motorcycle accident), right wrist (snowboarding), several ribs (filming 'LOTR'), nose (playing rugby) and cracked his skull several times. His home in the Hollywood Hills was robbed by the 'Bling Ring' in 2009 during which US$500K in personal possessions were stolen - although mostly subsequently retrieved.

Orlando Bloom - very handy with a sword and a bow, rides a horse well, adept at close quarter combat, athletic and known for sword and sandal, epic fantasy, costume drama roles and possessing cheeky boyish good looks - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-