"He is for all intents and purposes the eyes and ears of 'The Fellowship'," Bloom says. "He has superhuman strength, agile reflexes and heightened senses. He uses these qualities and is aware of danger before anyone else."

Bloom's fundaments for portraying Legolas required two months of archery training, Legolas being particularly handy with the bow and arrow. The actor had to next learn Elvish, the elf language invented by Tolkein.

The movie is only Bloom's second. His 1998 debut was Wilde, after which the Kent native, now 24, enrolled at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He was two days from graduating when he received The Lord of the Rings offer. "It's a very hard act to follow," he realizes.

How his old schoolmates must envy him. "I spoke to one of them yesterday and he was like, 'Oh man, I'm so chuffed for you! I've seen your doll in Burger King, I've seen your face all over.' All my friends and family are really happy for me. My mum freaked out. She's making a scrapbook."

Indeed, Bloom has much to be proud of. He made his mark, literally: it was his idea for the ensemble playing The Fellowship including Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortensen to be tattooed with the Elvish symbol 'nine,' in commemoration of the nine members and their own kinship forged during the making of the movie. "I feel really blessed to have been a part of this project," he says, "really blessed and honored. The whole experience has been amazing, living in New Zealand, working with the caliber of cast and crew and working with your best mates around you. It was a labour of love. And with the tattoo, it's like the reality of it will forever be left on my skin."