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Features
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One Knight in Kentucky
Even though actor Orlando Bloom is closer in spirit to the Elizabethan era than Elizabethtown, he says he worked mighty hard on that there American accent of his.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
By Christina Radish
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Jim Spellman/Wireimage.com
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From The Gap to The South
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In Cameron Crowe’s latest personal tale, Elizabethtown, the Academy Award winning writer-director draws for inspiration on the emotions he felt at his own father’s unexpected passing. At its core, the film is about a quiet Oregon shoe designer, Drew Baylor, who gets to know his father and his own family roots only after his dad’s death. Drew is at the center of his shoe company’s fiasco when he is assigned by his mother to travel to Kentucky, retrieve his father’s body, and bring him home to Portland, Oregon.
When it came time to find his lead actor, Crowe cast Kent, England native Orlando Bloom in his first modern-day American role. Having previously directed a 30-second spot for The Gap that featured Bloom and Kate Beckinsale, Crowe was so impressed with the actor that the two made a pact to work together in the future, with Elizabethtown representing that opportunity.
Eager to do a contemporary film, Bloom admits that the most challenging aspect of the role was perfecting an American accent. “It’s not easy; I won’t lie to you,” he admits during a recent interview with FilmStew. “I hope it’s believable, because it’s something that I worked really hard on.”
“I had a great dialect coach, and Cameron writes very beautifully and specifically, and he really captures Americana and the Americanism of those characters,” adds Bloom. “It was really important to try to get that right. I tried to stay in the accent when I wasn’t working, so that the sound felt comfortable in my mouth.”
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Jim Spellman/Wireimage.com
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Writer-director Cameron Crowe
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“That way, when I was speaking, it was my voice and not some put-on American voice. And, we had time, which was a great luxury. Time is a very precious commodity on a movie set. Also, we could drop a few words in afterwards, to change the sounds, if we needed to.”
Compared to past experiences in films like Kingdom of Heaven, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Bloom says he was struck by the relative subtlety and nuance of a film like Elizabethtown. “When you’re doing a big action adventure movie, you act and react to the action,” explains the 28-year-old. “There’s a big set piece, there are 300 horses, there’s a siege. It all draws the attention and the eye of the audience and takes them into the world.”
“Whereas here, it’s a group of actors just interacting, and that’s all that is holding the attention,” he insists. “ I really enjoyed it. Thanks to Cameron, it was great to be doing an American role, but it was challenging.”
Shooting Elizabethtown in Kentucky in the summer was extremely important to Crowe, as was filming in the real town, 45 miles south of Louisville. Almost all of the lead actors had never been to Kentucky and the introduction to that environment set the tone of the film.
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Jim Spellman/Wireimage.com
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Co-star Kirsten Dunst
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“As a Brit, I’ve experienced New York, Los Angeles and Miami,” he says. “I’ve been to the big cities of America, but I never really understood what they meant by southern hospitality. Making this movie and going to locations like the Survivor Tree in Oklahoma City, or the Lorraine Motel (where Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968) in Memphis, or just standing on a beautiful bridge over a river in Arkansas was like, ‘Wow, I get it. I get the heartland of America and the whole open-door policy.’”
“People were baking turkeys and cakes, and bringing them to the set, and giving us ice cream and stuff. It takes a lot of love to do all of that stuff.”
Just as important as the Kentucky locations is the road trip that Drew takes with his father’s remains, which serves as the emotional heart of the film. It was an experience that inspired Bloom to take his own real-life road trip across the heartland of America.
“I went from Nebraska to Los Angeles,” he exclaims. “It was just a couple of days ride, and it was just me and my dog, Sidi. I remember driving up to Colorado as the Rockies hit. I gained a whole new respect for the pioneers because it was just intimidating going through that in a car, much less doing it with a horse and cart. It just made America more real to me.”
“It’s like, when you pass through a place, you feel a part of the landscape, like you’re going through it,” Bloom marvels. “Utah was just barren desert, but it was beautiful. All the landscapes were great. I went from those lush green plains coming out of Nebraska, into the mountains, and then through the desert and back to L.A. There were no phones and no cameras.”
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Jim Spellman/Wireimage.com
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Co-star Jessica Biel
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But, the location didn’t change the fact that Bloom is still a recognizable movie star, even outside of Hollywood. “I pulled over at a canyon that was just beautiful, and there was a family just standing there taking photos. And, I sort of took some photograph in front of the canyon with them, which was fun.”
Even though the production was pared down to 100 essential crew members for the road trip sequence, Bloom says that it wasn’t quite the same experience as actually doing it on his own, which he wishes he had done before actually shooting the film. However, one particular story still stands out, about a time he and Crowe took a video camera out in Kentucky.
“We drove around for a few hours or more, and ran out of gas and pulled over at a petrol station, where someone tried to save my soul,” he remembers, laughing. “When they found out that I was from Hollywood, they were like, ‘You definitely need your soul saved.’ I was like, ‘I’m not actually from Hollywood.’ It was funny.”
“Cameron asked the guy if he’s seen The Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean, and the guy said, ‘No.’ So, Cameron said, ‘Well, anyway, he’s an actor and he works in Hollywood,’ and the guy said, ‘Well, if he’s from Hollywood, he needs help.’ He was just a real guy, and I love that.”
All of the color that Bloom experienced on the open road has certainly not deterred him from wanting to take another road trip sometime in the future. “I think that road trips are definitely something that’s affiliated with America because it’s a country where you can do that. I’d love to do it again. Maybe I could go from New York to L.A., which is sort of a famous trip.”
As a Brit playing an American from the heartland, it would be understandable if Bloom felt like he couldn’t quite relate to a character like Drew. But, he explains that he was able to identify with him on the most basic level. “I think that we can all relate to the idea of success and failure,” he suggests. “It’s the idea that you can make enough money, so that you can buy the new house, the new car, the new watch, the new pair of shoes, or whatever it is.”
“It’s the idea that the moment of happiness that you get from actually purchasing it is going to make your life better,” Bloom observes. “And, the truth is that you can’t take any of that stuff with you when you go. Ultimately, I think that Drew’s journey is to realize that life isn’t only about success, or those moments that you get from being a success. It’s about having to appreciate yourself.”
| Bloom says that he was also able to relate to having to live through a family tragedy. “When my grandfather died when I was 16, I had that experience of walking into a funeral parlor. I just remember my mom opening the door, and there was no one in there except for him and this coffin.”
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“It’s the most maturing thing that’s ever happened to me,” he adds. “It was right there. I was knocked back against the wall. I walked over to him and it took me 15 minutes to get within three feet of him. I did that thing where, like in the movie, I sort of touched his hand and then pulled away because it was cold. My mum walked into the room and kissed him on the forehead, and I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ It was a freaky experience.”
“I think that you only really learn to deal with life, if you really learn to deal with death because we’re all going to die. If you don’t look at death and don’t really understand that, then it’s going to be this thing that’s pending. Unless you can come to terms with, and get comfortable with, the fact that we’re going to go, then you can’t really grapple with the fact that we’re going to miss life.”
| After relishing the experience of playing a truly American character, Bloom is back at work on the two upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, which he confirmed will be featuring a special appearance by the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. “I never saw myself as an action adventure movie guy,” he declares. “I didn’t think of that as my path, but I found myself doing these movies and, in retrospect, I think that I was very lucky because, had I had more dialogue, I probably would have made a real mess of it.”
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“Elizabethtown is my first experience in a contemporary leading role, and playing an American, which is much harder that I thought it was be,” Bloom explains. “It’s a great character and I learned a lot, but I still have a lot to learn.”
“ I’m sort of doing everything in the public eye. I don’t want to feel like I’m ever afraid to fail, or afraid to keep making different choices, and I certainly want to do some theater and some smaller movies. But, this movie was an amazing experience for me.”
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