Post-'Pirates,' Orlando Bloom Sails Onto New Seas

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - After starring in two megasized Hollywood trilogies that have taken him from unknown to A-list (''Pirates of the Caribbean'' and ''Lord of the Rings'') Orlando Bloom is walking away from movies - temporarily.

''It's been an incredible ride,'' said the 30-year-old, sprawled across a sofa at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. ''And it's been wonderful but I'm sort of psyched to do something completely different.''

Hence, he's returning to the theater - the London stage, to be exact, to appear in David Storey's play, ''In Celebration.''

Sailing straight from London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama into Hollywood's spotlight was ''huge'' and ''surreal,'' Bloom said, an experience that moved him ''to go back to the beginning, as if I've just come out of school again.''

Inspired by movies and theater, as well as the street performers in his hometown of Canterbury, England, Bloom chose his career as a child.

''When I realized that if I was an actor, I could be any character I wanted instead of just one particular, I was like, 'Wow, that's cool,''' he said.