Orlando Bloom is saying goodbye to one of the most iconic roles of his career, Legolas, the Elven son of Thranduil in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies . The British actor is reprising his role from the other Peter Jackson trilogy, The Lord of the Rings , and this is the last film in which audiences will see him wearing the now famous long blonde hair.
Legolas was first introduced in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the King , when he comes to the council of Elrond of Rivendell with a message from his father to discuss Gollum’s escape. Legolas is then chosen as a member of the Fellowship, which wanted to destroy the One Ring. Bloom’s character served as an archer.
Now, it’s time to say goodbye to the beloved character in what is shaping out to be an epic film, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies , the fifth movie in which Orlando Bloom portrays Legolas. Peter Jackson released the first teaser trailer to the public earlier this week, following the San Diego Comic Con panel.
In an interview with several news outlets Bloom confessed that he is sad about leaving a character that shaped so many years of his career and what it was like to reprise the role from The Lord of the Rings :
“I feel weird. We were just talking today – Peter (Jackson’s) youngest (daughter) has just turned 18. She was three when I arrived in New Zealand… it’s sad to say goodbye in many, many ways. I felt very lucky to be back to do it… I felt like I got a chance to create a back story… I think this movie will tie up beautifully the characters’ stories into a nice little bow so that you’ll be able to then go straight in and watch (The) Lord of the Rings .
In a related interview with Collider via The Science Christian Monitor , Orlando Bloom discussed the relationship between Legolas and his father, Thranduil (Lee Pace):
“Thranduil… is a very powerful and strong character who is very particular in his vision of who the Elves are, who the Woodland Elves are, specifically. They are kind of…a militant group, the Woodland Realm Elves. So I think that the opportunity that Pete and Philippa (Boyens) and Fran (Walsh) and the writers… saw was to create… I think there was a desire for Legolas to come back. They felt that the fans would appreciate seeing Legolas in the Woodland Realm, and there was an opportunity to create a father-son, a prince versus king dynamic that would be interesting and serve the story.”
You can watch Orlando Bloom in action as Legolas in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies teaser trailer.
[Image via MGM]
