Famously known for appearing in franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings, Orlando Bloom has acquired a fanbase out of his iconic characters. But not always did the actor appreciate the projects he appeared in. Take, for example, Bloom admitted blocking out Wolfgang Petersen’s 2004 historical epic Troy, from his mind.
Appearing for Variety’s Know Their Lines video series, as Orlando Bloom failed to recall one of the lines said by his Troy character Paris, the actor admitted absolutely loathing the film. So it seems Brad Pitt isn’t the only one who expressed his dissatisfaction towards the 2004 movie, there’s also Bloom who despised it.
Orlando Bloom Despised Troy Over One Humiliating Scene
Claiming to have fond memories of filming most of his projects, Orlando Bloom recently appeared in Variety’s Know Their Lines video series, where he was offered dialogues from his renowned movies that he had to identify. While the actor did phenomenally well for most of it, Bloom shockingly fumbled when it came to a line said by his character Paris, from Wolfgang Petersen’s 2004 historical epic Troy.
“Oh my god, ‘Troy.’ Wow. I think I just blanked that movie out of my brain by the way. So many people love that movie, but for me playing that character was just like [slits throat]. Am I allowed to say all of these things? I didn’t want to do the movie. I didn’t want to play this character.”
While Troy boasted an impressive cast, including Brad Pitt and Eric Bana, and later achieved commercial success, Orlando Bloom confessed that playing the role of Paris, the prince of Troy, was completely against his instincts. Expressing deep disgust towards his role, Bloom admitted struggling to connect with his character and even revealed a humiliating scene that made him detest filming Troy, even more.
“The movie was great. It was Brad [Pitt]. It was Eric [Bana] and Peter O’Toole. But how am I going to play this character? It was completely against everything I felt in my being. At one point it says Paris crawls along the floor having been beaten by somebody and holds his brother’s leg. I was like, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this.’ One of my agents at the time said, ‘But that’s the moment that will make it!’ And I completely fell for that line of a agent. I think that’s why I blanked that from my mind.”
Recalling the specific scene that pushed him to the edge, Orlando Bloom admitted initially resisting the sequence where defeated and humiliated Paris, crawls on the floor and clings to his brother’s leg. Considering it to be too embarrassing for him, Bloom recalled speaking with his agent about it. But his agent eventually convinced him to go through with it, claiming it could be his moment.
Realizing he had no way out of it, Orlando Bloom admitted shutting out his mind and performing the scene, which later left him feeling mortified and unfulfilled as an actor. Later on, Bloom’s discontent with Troy added to the growing list of actors who have spoken out against the film.
Brad Pitt Was Utterly Dissatisfied With the 2004 Historical Epic
Apart from Orlando Bloom, there’s also the Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt who previously admitted being less than thrilled with his experience in Troy. Appearing as Achilles, who was mythologically killed by Paris, Pitt voiced his disappointment to The New York Times, citing the movie’s poor script and lack of character development.
“I had to do ‘Troy’ because — I guess I can say all this now — I pulled out of another movie and then had to do something for the studio. So I was put in ‘Troy.’ It wasn’t painful, but I realized that the way that movie was being told was not how I wanted it to be. I made my own mistakes in it. What am I trying to say about ‘Troy’? I could not get out of the middle of the frame. It was driving me crazy.”
Openly criticizing the way Wolfgang Petersen handled the story and characters, without adding any sort of mystery to it, Brad Pitt claimed to have learned his lesson. Looking at the brighter side, despite his miserable experience in Troy, Pitt noted learning the lesson of choosing quality stories, the hard way.
“But somewhere in it, ‘Troy’ became a commercial kind of thing. Every shot was like, Here’s the hero! There was no mystery. So about that time, I made a decision that I was only going to invest in quality stories, for lack of a better term. It was a distinct shift that led to the next decade of films.”
Opening in the summer of 2004 Troy grossed nearly $500M at the worldwide box office via Variety. But despite its massive commercial success, it’s clear that not all actors involved share the same enthusiasm for the film.
Troy is available on Prime Video.
