Orlando Bloom: 16 questions of home, the homesick feeling, and what creates his private sanctuary special.

Steamy heartthrob Orlando Bloom exposes himself to the elements in Los Angeles and talks about his revealing new TV series To The Edge, in which he embarks on the most death-defying stunts on land, sea and air. Coming into the spotlight for Perfect Issue Six: Home, Bloom dives into what goes into creating his safe space.

Orlando Bloom wears Diesel throughout.

Where do you call home right now in your life? 

Home is where the heart is, and my heart tends to roam, since that's the nature of our lives – we travel all the time.

Which room do you think you spend most time in?

Depending on the time of day, my office or the gym or my daughter's playroom.

Where was home for you as a child?

Canterbury, Kent [in England] – it was pretty idyllic. I moved to London at 16  – less idyllic.

Can you describe the first place you lived when you moved away from the home where you grew up?

I lived in Hanson Street in Fitzrovia, London. It was a converted two-bedroom flat that used to be a back workroom. There were skylights… Not much else. But it was home. Very good location for a 16-year-old going to school in North London and then on to drama school.

Can you remember the first time you felt homesick? 

When I was about 11, my mum took me to France where I lived with a family as a foreign-exchange student. I was there for about a week. I remember not really knowing I would be staying there without my mum, and I remember feeling very homesick to begin with. But ultimately I had a pretty unique experience living with a French family. It was the first of two foreign-exchange periods I spent in France. The second time I lived in Lyon with a family who owned a poissonnerie. Mostly I learnt how to skateboard and do an ollie kickflip, but I got a pretty good accent from it. I do love France.

Do you ever get homesick now?

Since having children, I suppose I get homesick when I'm away from work, but it's mostly missing the kids and family and life and their experience of life. Is that homesick or childsick? (Laughs)

Are you any good at DIY?

I wish I could say I was good at DIY, but I'd be lying – although I can be pretty handy when required. I used to go treasure-trash-picking with my son: we'd take from the beach plastics and trash and then we we'd build sculptures and functional items out of the things that we'd found, if they were useable.

What’s on your bedside table? 

Books – currently I usually dip in and out of The Creative Act by Rick Rubin – earplugs, an eye mask, vitamins and/or melatonin occasionally, a lamp, a photo of my kids and my family. 

What’s the furthest you’ve ever travelled from home?

I travelled to Antarctica on a science research boat after finishing Pirates of the Caribbean 3. I was out of contact with the rest of the world by all means, including email, for about five weeks. It was a gruelling passage across the Drake and the Beagle Channel. I remember not getting out of bed for three days, because the seas were so rough I had to be strapped in. Antarctica is remarkable and vanishing rapidly. The icebergs felt like dinosaurs. Tragically beautiful.

Do you have a special place you go to to escape from the world?

I have a few special places. One is in the UK; the other is actually a car that I built out so that I could go camping and drive into the middle of nowhere and just sit occasionally. There's a tent on top, a fridge in the back and all the things I need for survival. I've taken my son out on occasion and it's something that I love to do when I can find the time.

What most strongly triggers a sense of being home for you?

Home for me is a state of mind, mostly: a feeling of peace, stress free. Friends, family and loved ones are always a huge part of feeling at home.

Where do you see home being for you in 20 years’ time?

Most likely, wherever my heart is. Obviously with kids I'm more tethered to parts of the world that they live in. It's hard to say where they'll be or what they'll be doing in 20 years' time. But I imagine most of my home feeling then will be a state of mind.

When travelling, what does it take to make you feel at home?

With all the travel and the nomadic way of living, I feel at home when I feel at peace. I feel at peace when I practise my Buddhism; when I take time for myself; when I engage with my community, whatever community I'm in; and when I feel like I'm achieving my goals. Home is for me quite transient but also very important and centred on my connection to environment and those around me. 

Is your home a source of creativity and self-expression?

Probably like most people, my home environment, when it feels chaotic because of how I may or may not be operating in it (laughs), has a huge impact on my wellbeing or my mind – I'm constantly trying to focus on less is more. Ongoing battle! I seem to accumulate as I travel and go. But it's interesting as time trundles on how you want to let go of things and simplify – and the simpler my environment the happier I fell. 

Your new series, Orlando Bloom: To the Edge, follows you as you try to master three extreme sports. Was it a difficult decision to allow cameras to follow you so closely in real life? As an actor, is there normally some comfort in hiding behind a role?

Orlando Bloom: To The Edge was a very interesting human experiment that I embarked upon after Covid and the general feeling of fear that was mounting around the awareness that we were all locked down. When I came out of that, I decided I had a bucket list of things to do. Actually what I ended up doing for Orlando Bloom: To The Edge was not what I initially started on. I had wanted to travel to blue zones, but I guess there's already a show about blue zones, LOL. So what was presented was, 'Well, we'll throw you to the bottom of the ocean, up a mountain and then out of a plane – how does that sound?' Which actually was very unique because I've always appreciated the feeling of adrenaline. So I learned from experts how to navigate some extreme situations in a controlled manner, follow protocols and understand how things are done. I learnt so much from the remarkable teachers I had on all three of those journeys. It was very unnerving to begin with, to be followed and on camera without the disguise of a character or a costume or a script to speak from. But it also gave me some insight into who I am and what I appreciate in life, and who I appreciate and why, and the communities that do these extreme sports. You could easily think they are wild and free – which they are – but they're also remarkable athletes and incredibly well versed in technique and all that is required to perform the daring feats that they manage to do. It was a very quick learning curve (laughs). 

Did the cameras follow you into your home, or did that remain out of bounds?

The cameras were everywhere: in my home; they followed me to the bottom of the ocean, to the top of a mountain and as I fell out of a plane (laughs). Each episode was unique. One was more emotional, in some ways, and required mental fortitude; one was more physical and required a physical fortitude; and one was more daring, [where] my life depended on the instructors, and on myself, really learning protocols and following them. I felt very grateful that I had these remarkable teachers and partners to work with to achieve some things that maybe I didn't think I would possibly ever do. So it was definitely no holds barred and very revealing, in more ways than one.