My first payday as a professional actor, knowing this was the beginning of the rest of my life, and the day my daughter told me I wasn’t the worst dad in the world.
When were you happiest?
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
When I was about to embark on filming The Lord Of The Rings, prior to any kind of fame or notoriety, full of hope and dreams, and excitement of the adventures ahead.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 March 2021 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Ice-T
American rapper and actor
Alone, chillin’ with Coco.
Kirsty Young
Scottish television radio presenter
Running down a hill in midsummer sunshine aged eight, singing ELO's Mr Blue Sky.
Mornings. Playing music, fresh coffee, dippy eggs and soldiers, my girlfriend – what’s not to love?
More from Orlando Bloom
View profile →At 20, I fell from a fourth-floor window and broke my back. For four days they said I’d never walk again, but I had a miraculous recovery.
I lost my poodle, Mighty. He was out of my sight for just seven minutes; he went out on an adventure and didn’t come back, and was taken by a coyote, I think. It was awful, really painful; he taught me about love and loyalty, and how the connection between living beings can be.
An actor or stuntman: I loved Lee Majors in The Fall Guy.
More on time & hindsight
- What is the most important lesson life has taught you? 137 answers
- What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? 77 answers
- What scares you about getting older? 61 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 28 answers
- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 23 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 22 answers
Also answered this
Kelsey Grammer, Madhur Jaffrey, Julie Walters, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Jennifer Hudson, Jessica Raine
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All time & hindsight questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject