Here he’s visiting various schools and watching as budding artists display their talents in disciplines like ceramics, dance, silk-screen painting and jazz vocals.

The veteran of the sitcom “3rd Rock From the Sun” and dramas like “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “The Crown” and “The Old Man,” Lithgow didn’t intend to be an actor. He had performed at school but was directing successfully when he was offered an acting season at the Long Wharf Theatre. That marked a crossroad, he says.

“Acting, even at the best of times, will disappoint you,” he says. “It’s never quite as glorious as you had hoped it would be. As wonderful as it is, it’s air. It’s not something like a child or a book. It’s not something you’ve actually created, you can hold in your hand.

“It’s air. Even if it’s on film, you can preserve film, but the magic of film is the first time anyone sees it. It’s frozen. I'm talking in an airy way. I’m talking about my own philosophy. What I do is of the moment. It’s like a little firecracker that goes off. It fades, and it should fade. That’s the magic of it. It’s far less special if it stays in the air. It’s all ephemeral because you're touching people’s emotions.”

Orlando Bloom tests himself

Orlando Bloom loves to challenge himself in more ways than one. Not only does he take on impressive roles in mega-movies like “Lord of the Rings” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” he tests himself in nature as well.

An example is Peacock’s “Orlando Bloom: to the Edge” which is streaming now. In this three-part series he braves three extreme sports: rock climbing, wing suiting and free diving. Wing suiting is sky diving using a special bat-like suit that increases lift and allows a longer (and scarier) flight. Most people would find those ventures more than intimidating, but acting is no walk in the park, either.

“I was very young when I realized that it (acting) was where I felt most at ease and most expressive and creative,” he tells me.

“I think I was very young because I used to watch all the TV shows and all the movies and then I realized that if I was an actor, I could be any one of these people. I didn’t just have to be a lawyer like in ‘L.A. Law’ or I didn’t have to just be a cowboy or a superhero. I could be any one of those characters. When I realized that as an actor you can be any one of those characters, I thought, ‘Well, that’s the job for me. I get to experience life in so many different ways, to so many different eyes, and explore what it means to be a human living in this world.’”

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