The actor, Orlando Bloom, had actually aged ten years in real life between the two series, so some use of makeup had to be applied to preserve the illusion he hadn't aged a single day. The Hobbit is actually set EARLIER, not later, although Bloom's character was allegedly immortal.
In the later film version of The Hobbit, Bloom reprised his role as Legolas with even lighter and brighter blue eyes, likely to compensate for the slight aging in appearance of the actor.
Legolas' behavior in The Hobbit was partially due to his immaturity. Though he was already thousands of years old, he was still young by the standards of Elves.
Bloom reprised his role as Legolas in Jackson's 2013 release The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and again for the 2014 follow-up The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Legolas's role in the films is an addition, as he did not appear in the novel. He is attracted to the non-canon elf-woman Tauriel.
The actor is suffering from Legolas Syndrome — where you accidentally get cast into a role that suits you far more than your real-life looks, leaving you with a tricky predicament after the wrap party. Do you A) nick all the costumes and stay in character the rest of your working life, or B)
Since the movie release of The Hobbit, Legolas has only become more popular. To make the book into three films, the writers added Legolas into the story to better bind the two movie trilogies together. His presence in the lore has now shifted and has become a little more prominent than it was before.
It is later mentioned that Tauriel is a talented warrior and was therefore made leader of the Mirkwood border guards. Legolas, the son of Mirkwood's Elven king Thranduil, is indicated to be attracted to her, but as she is a lowly Silvan Elf, she does not believe herself worthy of him.
However, a specific scene in The Lord of the Rings has led fans to theorize that Frodo and Legolas didn't talk, not because of time, but because the hobbit didn't know Legolas' name (and was too embarrassed to ask).
Legolas does not marry or have any children, based on the appendix of The Lord of the Rings. Regardless of who his mother was, Legolas is the last of his line. When he sails into the West at the beginning of the Fourth Age, he leaves no family members behind.
It is of course possible that Legolas has become tolerant to alcohol. Thranduil and Legolas was Sindar elves but rules mostly over Silvan elves. Some people suggest this explains why Legolas is more resistant to alcohol as Sindar are generally considered more powerful elves than Silvan.
Legolas attacked Bolg after killing the Orcs and an intense duel ensued. Legolas eventually lost Orcrist and had to pull out one of his knives and Bolg proved to be a stronger Orc than the others and made Legolas bleed for the first time.
He refills his quiver with Orc arrows (the work of Saruman's people), which were noted to be longer in the shaft than Orc arrows usually are. Yes and No. Pretty sure it isn't addressed in the LOTR movies, but he does run out of arrows in the Battle of the Five Armies and is forced to switch to his daggers.
Another reason the CGI looks great is actually because of the technical limitations. As the CGI models couldn't look completely realistic, they were often forced to hide in shadows so the details were naturally lost. So the CGI Shelob looked better, as there was minimal light reflecting off of her textures.
This film is set decades before The Lord of the Rings film trilogy; actor Orlando Bloom reprises his role as the Elf character Legolas and is de-aged in his scenes, to reflect the fact that the film's Elves do not age.
Legolas' proficiency with the bow and arrow can be attributed to his Elven abilities, including enhanced eyesight, attunement to the environment, and centuries of experience as a hunter.
“And you'll have my bow” are the only words Legolas says to Frodo in the whole trilogy. Even in the books I don't remember Legolas ever speaking directly to Frodo or even making eye contact with him.
Aragorn and Legolas are long-time companions and best friends since Legolas' father Thranduil sent him to live among the Rangers of the North. Aragorn and Legolas grew close, up to the point where Aragorn revealed his true identity to Legolas. Throughout his journeys, Aragorn and Legolas are as close as brothers.
*'To Legolas she sent this word: Legolas Greenleaf long under tree In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea! If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore, Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.
Legolas and Gimli's relationship is strong in The Lord of the Rings, even though it wasn't explicitly romantic in Tolkien's source material. The members of the Fellowship in The Lord of the Rings forge an unbreakable bond while on their mission to destroy the One Ring.
Their relationship is fraught with awkwardness thanks to Tauriel's solely platonic feelings toward Legolas. Despite the unrequited interest, the two Mirkwood Elves have a great deal of respect for one another and have each other's backs. Legolas also comes to accept that Tauriel does not see him the way he sees her.
When Orlando reappeared in the final two Hobbit movies, he didn't have to wear any contacts. Instead, his eye-color was changed in post. However, this led to his eyes appearing unnaturally blue, distracting, and kind of creepy.
It is believed that after Kili dies, Tauriel becomes a lone rider and never loves again, she was so broken by the experience of losing him. Their love was real, and it was as strong as any other Middle Earth romance story. But this romance doesn't appear in the original book, so where did it come from?
Since we know Thranduil is golden-haired, it makes sense to have Legolas be blonde too, especially since everyone else in the Fellowship had brown hair, (except for Gandalf, who had grey hair as an old man). Both Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and Ralph Bakshi's 1978 movie present Legolas as blonde.
