ORLANDO BLOOM - ARAGORN WAS BLOOM'S RINGS GURU

ORLANDO BLOOM has LORD OF THE RINGS co-star VIGGO MORTENSEN to thank for teaching him how to cope with the intensity of making movies.

The British hunk, 26, landed his first major role as elf LEGOLAS in the fantasy trilogy, and Viggo - who plays ARAGORN - helped him get through the stress of making the movies in one 18-month stretch with his peaceful nature.

Orlando says, "Viggo became like a mentor to me. He's a very spiritual guy who never gets angry about anything. We'd sit next to each other for a couple or hours each morning in a make-up truck. You get to know someone that way, more than by being in scenes with them.

"Viggo would be very relaxed and always extremely polite to everyone. He taught me to enjoy the moment.

"I was playing an elf, with the costume, the ears and a bow in my hand. I felt invincible. We were filming in a beautiful part of the world, so Viggo would tell me just to look around, realise how lucky I was and enjoy it for what it was. He wasn't concerned about what came next."