Orlando Bloom declined offer to host ‘Saturday Night Live’ because of his dyslexia

During a recent interview Orlando Bloom revealed that he once turned down an offer to host Saturday Night Live due to his dyslexia and said that he was feeling “really insecure at the time.”

On Wednesday, September 4, Orlando, 42, talked about why he decided not to host the NBC comedy sketch series on The Howard Stern Show. He said it had to do with being "insecure," his dyslexia and the pressure of all the fame he received from the Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings movies.

“I was just like, partly my dyslexia, partly like that window of time where I couldn’t even think straight and see the wood through the trees,” he explained to Howard, 65. “I would love to [host] Saturday Night Live now.”

“You’ve got to read and then also I didn’t have perspective,” Orlando said, adding that the SNL hosting gig came when the third Pirates of the Caribbean film debuted in 2007. He then went on to reveal he also wasn't in a good mind space to do the job.

“It’s like you’re in a burning car,” he explained. “When you’re in our business, you get into this burning car…and it’s like you’re in the car and you’re like, ‘Wow, look at this, they love it.’ Then you go, ‘F**k it’s hot. How the f** — I’ve got to get out of this burning car.' The reality is you have to be able to get into the burning car, know that you’re getting into a burning car, put the suit on, have all this gel so you don’t get hot and burned. ‘Yeah, I’m driving this burning car!'"

“Then you have to get out of the burning car, make sure you’ve got a support team to make sure that you’re safe and happy,” the star, who is engaged to singer Katy Perry said. “Then you go, ‘Ok, cool, I’ll get back into the burning car when I do.'"

Orlando then shared that despite turning down the prestigious offer, he's gained a lot of perspective in life since then. “You only really live and enjoy this life, this craziness that we’re doing if you can, related to what’s really happening in your life and the everyday things that make you happy,” he said.

“And if you completely disassociate from those things, then you’re lost, in my mind," the 42-year-old added. “I was in a burning car and I just didn’t know how to get out and I couldn’t do Saturday Night Live,” he said.

Although, these days Orlando says he would host SNL "in a heartbeat."