Orlando Bloom on being a parent

Orlando Bloom shares his parenting journey

What do you wish you had known before you became a father? 

What do I wish I’d known before I became a father? I think how beautiful and challenging the responsibility of bringing a child into the world is. It takes four years to learn to be a hairdresser at one of the greatest salons in London or around the world. And yet there is zero education to bringing a child into the world, which is essentially the biggest responsibility in your life. But it is the greatest joy and the most beautiful responsibility.

What have your kids taught you? 

My kids have taught me patience. My kids have taught me about the joy of just play and they’ve taught me love in the most sort of pure and open-hearted way.

What’s your favorite thing to do with your children? 

It is to go for a walk. We would go treasure-trash picking. Sometimes, you know, you go beachcombing and you pick up shells or glass bottle parts. And sometimes we would even make things out of the trash because it would be kind of beautiful and weird looking. And I love to play LEGO with my kids. Occasionally watch movies.

What have you found hardest about being a parent? 

I think the hardest thing for me has been being away from them at times when I…that’s out of my control and I can’t. That’s the hardest part.

How do you cope? 

FaceTime. Trying to navigate schedules and time apart and it is really challenging. But I ask for help when I can. I think often of families that have been separated through conflict or disaster. And then I think how lucky I am to get the time that I do get. And how I have FaceTime and I can make the most. But I think it’s taught me to be very present to the moments that we do have, which is sometimes challenging in this chaotic world. But it is the greatest joy and the most beautiful responsibility.