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Orlando Bloom refers to Liam Neeson as his ‘surrogate Hollywood dad’

Orlando Bloom is very fond of Liam Neeson, and even considers him as a “surrogate dad figure”.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star and the Irish actor played father and son in 2005’s Kingdom of Heaven, and Orlando has now revealed how 64-year-old Liam has kept him grounded ever since.

“Just getting to breathe the same air was enough. I’d grown up watching his movies — Schindler’s List, Michael Collins. I thought I was going to be terrified by this towering legend,” Orlando told the Irish Sun.

“And it was my first lead in a movie. I’d done Pirates and Lord of the Rings and Troy. But this time, I was number one on the call sheet of this very expensive, very big movie. I’m 25, 26 and that can make your head explode.

“And Liam was amazing, we just clicked. It was like meeting a guy you’ve known your entire life. And you know, he knows how huge this is for me, watches out for me, like a surrogate dad figure and I remember him saying, ‘Just stay you! Always stay you. Don’t buy into any of the bulls***.’

“That’s been his motto, seems to have worked,” he said.

Orlando landed his big break playing warrior elf Legolas in the Lord of the Rings trilogy – but later went on to play an Irish convict in Australian period drama Ned Kelly alongside the late Heath Ledger.

The 40-year-old, who’s grandfather hailed from Belfast, took on the difficult task of an Irish accent – which he managed to maintain for their entire four-month shoot back in 2002, in order to stay in character.

“It was my form of method acting, at the time. Once I had it, I didn’t want to give it up so I stayed Irish for the entire shoot. It became part of my identity. And I still break into it from time to time. Good to bring it back.”

Orlando is yet to work on Irish shores, but he came close back in 2010 after signing up for Oscar-nominated drama Albert Nobbs with Glenn Close, which was shot in Dublin.

However, the actor was forced to pull out of the project, which also starred Brendan Gleeson and Brenda Fricker, when filming clashed with the birth of his son Flynn, who he welcomed with his now ex-wife Miranda Kerr.

“I was always going to be there for the birth. I was always going to be in the room so there wasn’t any other way.

“It was disappointing, it was a project that I’d really pursued. I was really looking forward to living in Dublin and working with Glenn and John Banville but sadly, timing was all off,” he explained.

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