Orlando Bloom
AGE 26
'RINGS' ROLE Legolas, the elf with the skills to pay the bills on the crossbow
BEFORE 'LOTR' Brit Bloom was just breaking into the business, costarring in Ridley Scott's ''Black Hawk Down'' just about the same time as the first ''Rings'' hit.
AFTER 'LOTR' Orlando's career has bloomed in the wake of the franchise's success, more so than most of his young castmates. In 2005, he's slated to return to Scott's viewfinder as 12th-century Crusader Salaq Ul-Hul in ''Kingdom of Heaven.'' Also scheduled, of course, are a ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' sequel (also 2005) and Wolfgang Petersen's epic ''Troy'' (May 14), in which Bloom, as mythological Trojan prince Paris, pisses off Greek warrior Achilles (Brad Pitt).
