Bloom with fan Alexandra Hopkirk; Source: Stuff.co.nz
With our growing dependence on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, news travels fast – especially when it comes to celebrity sightings. And especially when the celebrity is involved in what is likely one of the most anticipated films of all time.
Posts on Facebook and word-of-mouth communication alerted fans that Orlando Bloom, who will be reprising his role as Legolas in the upcoming Hobbit films, was having breakfast at Vudu, a café in Queenstown. The news, which hit the Internet almost instantaneously, brought many eager fans to the café, seeking autographs and photos with the star.
“He was really nice,” said Alexandra Hopkirk, who got to meet and have her photo taken with the star, thanks to a tip from her sister, who had in turn received a phone call alert from a friend.
“He asked if we were from around here and where we worked, and said he’d be around for about 10 days.”
While Bloom graciously signed autographs and posed for photos with fans, he asked a media photographer to “do something when I’m about to leave in 10 days, otherwise I won’t be able to go anywhere.”
In addition to Vudu, Bloom has been spotted dining at Amisfield, an award-winning winery and restaurant near Lake Hayes.
Other Hobbit cast members – including “vertically challenged” extras dressed in black hooded Hobbit sweatshirts and Second Unit Director Andy Serkis, who will also be reprising his role as Gollum – have been spotted in Queenstown in recent weeks.
While scenes are still being shot in Paradise over the next few days, a location manager told a photographer from the Southland Times that although he could not stop people from taking photographs, traffic control permits would make it difficult for photos to be taken once shooting had commenced.
