Orlando Bloom made millions of women swoon as he rocketed to superstardom on the Legolas express during the original "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. On "Jimmy Kimmel Live," though, the actor made a confession about the iconic role.
“I read ‘The Hobbit’ when I was a kid. I got part-way through ‘The Lord of The Rings,’ but ... girls were far more interesting," Bloom admitted. He's not alone in that. The "LOTR" trilogy is always among lists of the most "unfinished" books of all time. Clocking in at more than 1,000 pages, it's certainly a daunting task.
Ironically, he read the part of J.R.R. Tolkien's saga that didn't involve Legolas, and yet now he's portraying the character in Part 2 of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" trilogy. Bloom told Kimmel that he was concerned about it, but had total faith in Jackson, saying, "Peter really understands this world and I think he’s got one eye on the fans and the Tolkien people and the people who are real fans of the movie and he’s also got one eye on making it a successful, fantastic movie.”
Ian McKellen -- who has portrayed the wizard Gandalf in all of Jackson's Tolkien films -- explained on "The Daily Show" how Jackson was able to split the relatively short "Hobbit" into three films. This is the advantage of literature over film. If Tolkien writes, ‘The army of 10,000 arrived on the plain,’ for Peter Jackson that’s not enough," he said. "You gotta build it up. You have to see the 10,000 arriving. It’s a long time for 10,000 to arrive in one place.”
Orlando Bloom and Ian McKellen are reunited in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," in theaters December 13. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. EST on ABC. "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" airs Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. EST on Comedy Central.
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