Orlando began his acting career in successful British television shows such as Casualty, Midsomer Murders and Smack the Pony.

His break-through role was playing Legolas in The Lord of the Rings trilogy leading to him being awarded the 2002 MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough male and the Empire Award for Best Debut.

He has gone on to establish himself as a leading Hollywood actor starring as Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy and films including Ned Kelly, for which he won Best supporting Actor at the Australian Film Institute awards in 2003, as well as Troy, Elizabethtown and Kingdom of Heaven. In 2005 he won the Audience Award for Best Actor at the European Film Awards for his role in Kingdom of Heaven.