Pirates of the Caribbean star Orlando Bloom is desperate for a theatre role because that's where he always thought he'd begin his acting career.

The British actor was plucked from obscurity, direct from film school and given the role of Legolas in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the big movie roles have tumbled from there.

But Bloom is keen to "earn his stripes" in the theatre.

He says: "I really want to do some theatre. My career took this marching pace that meant that I was running to the beat of a drum that I wasn't quite sure where the noise was coming from.

"I'm avidly looking for the right sort of material that I can do something with."