It didn't take long after the premiere of "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," for Orlando Bloom to realize he'd soon be sailing the seven seas again.

"I remember being at Disneyland with Johnny [Depp] and we're all sitting around with [producer Jerry Bruckheimer], and we're saying, 'Let's do a pirate movie for the rest of our lives,'" Bloom recalls of the genesis of "Dead Man's Chest." "What's cool [is that] they took what was a one-off movie, but because of what was already there in terms of character development, they were able to really take it somewhere."

That includes a whole new world of possibilities for Bloom's character, Will Turner, including an introduction to his father, pirate Bootstrap Bill, played by Stellan Skarsgård. Meeting his on-screen dad also allowed Turner to step aboard the stunning pirate ship, the Flying Dutchman, captained by Jack Sparrow's nemesis, an amazing CGI animated Davy Jones. It's just another fantastical world for Bloom to explore after being a part of the "Pirates" films, last summer's "Kingdom of Heaven" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

"I play characters that are larger than life," Bloom says. "Getting to play a knight, an elf, a prince, a soldier. I've really lived out all of my childhood fantasies."

Bloom admits he wouldn't mind spending more time in the real world, as he did in Cameron Crowe's "Elizabethtown" last fall, but he's learning some good tricks as he goes from one sword-swinging action-adventure to another.

"Woo hoo! I didn't hurt myself this time," the 27-year-old actor says. "I'm a lot more conscious about not getting injured now than I was before."

Once you consider that Bloom ends up spending a considerable amount of time swashbuckling on top of a moving, 20-foot-high wooden wheel and was suspended 30 feet up on the masts of numerous ships, it's clear his enthusiasm is not of the sarcastic variety. Fame has also dealt the actor the perils of becoming a heartthrob to very young girls. Most actors would be doing anything they could to distance themselves from such teenybopper obsessions. Bloom has a different take, even as he currently romances actress Kate Bosworth in private.

"Fight them off? Don't be crazy," he says incredulously. "What do I look like? Bring 'em on!"

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" opens nationwide on July 7.