Ahoy! High School Crush

Once in a while, we’ll get to a week where my crush and our guests align. This is one of those weeks as Kate Bjärgvide, aka Katie B, chatted with me about a character played by Orlando Bloom. Actually, we talked about his first and second huge roles, but today I wanted to dive into the one that had me more sprung – William Turner from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’ 

Like many my age in the early 2000s, I caught wind of Orlando Bloom when his gorgeous blonde wig and striking blue eyes came into my view with ‘Lord of the Rings.’ I’d never read those books in my life but being hormonal and Bloom being hot – of course, I sat through the first movie. It was…long and a bit too much for me, but that didn’t stop me from dedicating wall space to Legolas posters, but alongside them, other than Anakin Skywalker ones, were ones of Bloom as William Turner. Now those movies, those I could get behind. 

They were quick, to the point, and just fun. Plus, they were movies I could go watch with my little brother. Side story – one time our mom dropped us off for a ‘Pirates’ movie…on one of the hottest days of the year…and managed to not pick us up for hours. Why not just walk home? We lived a 15-minute or so drive from the theater and could really only walk home on the highway or on a creepy, abandoned road that ran along it. So yeah, we waited in a desolate parking lot until she finally rolled up. 

Okay, sorry to go down memory lane – back to Bloom. Him as William Turner was everything. Legolas had that blonde hair but I leaned more towards Will because he was um, more real? He was this sort of low point in society who found himself in a whirlwind adventure alongside a guy that’s been the crush of many for five decades now. Bloom held his own against Johnny Depp on screen, and really became the crush for many during that time because, on top of the adventures we could daydream about being on with William Turner, we could also toss in a hell of a lot of romance due to what he had going on with Elizabeth Swan. 

William Turner, a likely crush of many in high school during the 2000s. An iconic heartthrob tacked onto walls around the world, including mine. Now to hear about why Orlando Bloom’s other character was all that and a bag of chips for Katie B, stick around for this week’s episode later this week.