'Lord of the Rings is in my veins'

London - Orlando Bloom feels like The Lord of the Rings is in his blood.

The British actor portrayed the role of elf Legolas in all three instalments of the epic fantasy movie and will be returning for prequel The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and he admits he is particularly excited to reunite with cast member Elijah Wood.

He said: "It's like it is in my veins so I'm really looking forward to The Hobbit and I think it's going to be wonderful. I'll miss the fact that people like Viggo Mortensen are not going to be there, but Elijah Wood is coming back to do a little thing, and it'll be great to work with Sir Peter Jackson and Sir Ian McKellen and all the crew."

Orlando is hoping that returning to the character as an earlier version of who he has previously played will allow him a little more "freedom" in the role.

He added to the Scotsman newspaper: "This being a prequel to Lord of the Rings; is something that I have to take into consideration when playing Legolas, of course, but I think that it also gives me a little freedom too. I wondered at first whether I was going to be able to do it, but it's a character that I really love and I know so well."