"I have no idea how this happened. I couldn't have planned it," is how Orlando Bloom reviews the fact that he has become the go-to big screen swashbuckler of his generation.
Whether he could have foreseen it or not, it's clear from his roll call of hits that it's been a combination of innocent-boy-abroad good looks and a believable way with a sword that has secured his place in two of cinema's most lucrative enterprises - the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Now he's at it again, in Paul W S Anderson's 3D romp buster The Three Musketeers - is he happy to do the same thing again?
"Well, what's interesting for me about this film is that I get to play a bit of a bad boy," Bloom explains, sitting down in London. "I'm not one of the Musketeers, which is what people might have expected.
"My character, the Duke of Buckingham is not exactly a villain, but definitely a bit of a rogue.
Bloom warms to his theme, and has evidently done his homework: "The Duke represented the power of the British Empire, he was the King's favourite courtier, so he could do what he liked, and he was rich. Money equals power, and he had a lot of it. And he wore it - big bloomers, big heels, big pearl in the ear - swaggers around generally, so it was a huge amount of fun."
This is a whistle-stop trip to London for Bloom, between work in New Zealand where he is "Hobbiting" apparently, and home in LA with his Australian model wife Miranda Kerr and their baby son. With so much on his plate these days, what attracts him to a project?
"I always like a strong script, and something I think would be fun, to do something with. I like getting up in the morning, knowing I'm going to do all these mad things and stretch myself.
"For example, for The Musketeers, (director) Paul said he wanted these characters to feel like the rock stars of their time. I immediately thought, fine, a bit of David Bowie."
Next on his list is a world away from the plumes of France's Golden Age, an indie film with US actor Mark Ruffalo, where Bloom will play... a rock star. There seems to be a definite theme here - can we sense frequent co-star Johnny Depp's influence at work?
Bloom smiles. "Probably."