Orlando Bloom Owes Success to Broken Back  5/9/05

Screen hunk Orlando Bloom's near-fatal accident gave him the determination necessary to succeeded in Hollywood.

At just 21 years old, the then-aspiring British actor was told he would never walk again after falling three floors to the ground from a rooftop terrace and breaking his back.

But after struggling through intensive surgery, Bloom acquired the self-belief he needed to fulfil his ambitious career - and within a year he was riding a horse in his first major role as Legolas in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

He says, "It was kind of the making of me.

"It tested my belief in myself and everything else; it gave me more of a maturity and a greater determination to succeed."