Family, early life and education

Gruffudd was born on 6 October 1973 in Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales, the eldest of three siblings. Gruffudd's parents, Peter and Gillian (née James) Gruffudd, were both teachers.

His father was headmaster at two Welsh comprehensive schools in South Wales, first at Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari (in Llanharry, Rhondda Cynon Taf) then later at Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen (in Church Village, Llantwit Fardre, Rhondda Cynon Taf). He has a younger brother, Alun, two years younger, and a sister, Siwan, who is seven years his junior. The Gruffudd siblings were raised in a Protestant non-conformist household.

The Welsh name "Ioan", pronounced "Yo-Ann", is an equivalent of "John", and "Gruffudd" corresponds to the anglicised "Griffith".

During his childhood, his family moved to Cardiff. Gruffudd attended Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar (Ynyslwyd; now located in Cwmdare), Ysgol Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd (in Whitchurch, Cardiff), and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf (in Llandaff).

He was an accomplished oboist in his teens, achieving a Grade 8 level in the ABRSM music examinations and playing in the South Glamorgan Youth Orchestra for several years, but gave it up once acting took up most of his time. He won prizes for his high baritone singing while at school, including one at the National Eisteddfod. He has said, "As a Welshman, I grew up in a culture of singing and performing with music, and I think it was through this performing that I got my confidence as an actor."

Gruffudd's parents are committed Christians, and in his early 20s, he was a member of the London Church of Christ, but his mother later came to London to "sort head out". In June 2007, he said that he "wouldn't describe myself as a deeply religious man".

Career

Gruffudd started his acting career at the age of 13 in a Welsh television film, Austin (1986), and later moved on to the Welsh language soap opera Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley) from 1987-94. He also played football with the Pobol y Cwm football team Cwmderi FC alongside co-stars Hywel Emrys, Gwyn Elfyn and Ieuan Rhys. During this time, he was also active on stage, in school performances, and in the 1991 Urdd Eisteddfod production of Cwlwm.

In 1992, aged 18, he began attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. However, he was only given small parts in the Academy's productions, and feeling isolated and directionless, almost dropped out several times. However, in 1995 in his final year, he was cast in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler as George (Jörgen) Tesman, the husband of Hedda, the lead character. This performance led to him being offered the lead role in the 1996 TV remake of Poldark.

After playing Oscar Wilde's lover John Gray in 1997's Wilde he took his first international role as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the blockbuster film Titanic. He later landed the role of Horatio Hornblower in Hornblower, the Meridian production of the C. S. Forester novels (1998-2003), shown on ITV1 and A&E. He has said: "It was quite something for an unknown actor to get the lead. So I will always be grateful to Hornblower. ... I would love to play this character through every stage of his life. I think it would be unique to have an actor playing him from the very early days as a midshipman, through till he's an Admiral. So, I would love to play this character till he perishes."

His television work includes playing the character Pip in the BBC TV production of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (1999), Lt. John Feeley in BBC One's Warriors (1999) and architect Philip Bosinney in ITV's adaptation of The Forsyte Saga (2002). He has starred in the films 102 Dalmatians (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001) and King Arthur (2004).

In 2007, he starred in the historical drama Amazing Grace as William Wilberforce, the British abolitionist, receiving critical acclaim for the role. Gruffudd has also portrayed characters of both Marvel Comics and DC Comics, having appeared as Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) in Marvel's Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and provided the voice of Mister Miracle in DC's Justice League Unlimited (2004-06).

In 2008, he appeared in the Julia Roberts-Ryan Reynolds film, Fireflies in the Garden. In 2008, he also appeared in The Secret of Moonacre. In 2009, he starred alongside Josh Brolin in W., a biopic about the life of U.S. President George W Bush, in which Gruffudd played Tony Blair. In 2011, he played the financier of a cave dive in Sanctum.

Apart from television and film work, he starred in the music video of Westlife's version of "Uptown Girl" (2001) alongside Claudia Schiffer. On 7 July 2007 he was a presenter at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London.

Gruffudd is a native Welsh speaker. He was inducted into the Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain (the Bardic Order of Great Britain) at the highest rank of druid in the National Eisteddfod at Meifod, mid-Wales, on 4 August 2003, with the bardic name "Ioan".

In July 2008 he featured in a promotional trailer in Welsh for BBC Wales, alongside fellow Welshmen Matthew Rhys and Gethin Jones, publicising BBC coverage of the 2008 National Eisteddfod of Wales in Cardiff. In early 2014, Gruffudd was among the stars of Wales in a short film from the BBC to mark the centenary of the birth of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.

Personal life

Gruffudd lives with his wife, actress Alice Evans, in Los Angeles, California. The couple met during the production of 102 Dalmatians, while she was engaged and living with someone else, and married on 14 September 2007 in Mexico. One of Gruffudd's best men and speechmakers at the wedding was fellow Welsh actor Matthew Rhys, his long-time friend and former flatmate of eight years. Both are patrons of Trust PA, a UK spinal injuries charity.

On 20 April 2009, Gruffudd and Evans announced that they were expecting their first child together. The couple have two daughters, Ella Betsi (born September 6, 2009) and Elsie Marigold (born February 13, 2013).

Gruffudd enjoys being in Los Angeles because "it's the easiest place in the world to drive, and it's a real pleasure to do that in my black Jag XK8. I've gone all out." Gruffudd has also said that "There's a physicality and confidence to Americans; they're very present. That's something I enjoy being around because it rubs off on you. Although an actor friend of mine visited recently and said, 'It's no wonder they write such terrible scripts these days, there's no pain! Everything's so nice you can't be bothered'."

Performances

Films

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Wilde	1997	John Gray
Titanic	1997	Harold Godfrey Lowe, Fifth Officer of the RMS Titanic
Solomon & Gaenor	1999	Solomon Levinsky
102 Dalmatians	2000	Kevin Shepherd
Another Life	2001	Freddy Bywaters
Very Annie Mary	2001	Hob
Happy Now	2001	Sgt. Max Bracchi
Black Hawk Down	2001	Lt. John Beales
Shooters	2002	Freddy Guns
Gathering, TheThe Gathering	2002	Dan Blakeley
This Girl's Life	2003	Daniel
King Arthur	2004	Lancelot
Fantastic Four	2005	Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic	Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team
TV Set, TheThe TV Set	2006	Richard McAllister
Amazing Grace	2006	William Wilberforce
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer	2007	Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic	Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Dance Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple
Stories USA	2007	Simon
Agent Crush	2008	Agent Crush	Voice Role
The Meant to Be's	2008	The Man	Television film
Fireflies in the Garden	2008	Addison
Secret of Moonacre, TheThe Secret of Moonacre	2008	Sir Benjamin Merryweather
W.	2008	Tony Blair
The Kid	2010	Teacher
Horrible Bosses	2011	Wetwork Expert	Cameo
Sanctum	2011	Carl Hurley
Foster	2011	Alec	Also titled as Angel in the House
Mariah Mundi and the Midas Box	2013	Charles Mundi
Eddie	2013	The Killer	Short
Playing It Cool	2014	Stuffy
San Andreas	2015	Daniel Riddick
Keep Watching	2015
The Jungle Book	2016	Colonel Hathi	Voice Role

Television

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Austin	1986	Dafydd
Pobol y Cwm	1987-94	Gareth Wyn Harries
Poldark	1996	Jeremy Poldark
Hornblower: The Even Chance	1998	Midshipman Horatio Hornblower
Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant	1998	Acting Lt. Horatio Hornblower
Warriors	1999	Lt. John Feeley
Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil	1999	Acting Lt. Horatio Hornblower
Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters	1999	Lt. Horatio Hornblower
Great Expectations	1999	Pip
Hornblower: Mutiny	2002	3rd Lt. Horatio Hornblower
Hornblower: Retribution	2002	3rd Lt. Horatio Hornblower
Man and Boy	2002	Harry Silver	TV Movie
Forsyte Saga, TheThe Forsyte Saga	2002	Phillip Bosinney
Hornblower: Loyalty	2003	Commander Horatio Hornblower
Hornblower: Duty	2003	Commander Horatio Hornblower
Century City	2004	Lukas Gold
Justice League Unlimited	2005	Mister Miracle	Voice Role
Ben 10: Alien Force	2010	Devin Levin	Voice Role
Batman: The Brave and the Bold	2010	Armor/Red Ryan	Voice Role
Ringer	2011-2012	Andrew Martin
The British	2012	Narrator
Monday Mornings	2013	Dr. Stewart Delaney	Guest Role
Castle	2013	Erik Vaughn	Season 5, Episode 21: "The Squab and the Quail"
Necessary Roughness	2013	Nolan Powers	Guest Role
Glee	2013	Paolo San Pablo	2 episodes ("Love, Love, Love"; "The End of Twerk")
Under Milk Wood	2014	Mog Edwards	TV Movie
Forever	2014-2015	Henry Morgan	Lead, 22 episodes

Video game

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Fantastic Four	2005	Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic	Based on the film of the same name

Theatre

Title	Year	Location	Role
Hedda Gabler	1995	London (RADA)	George (Jörgen) Tesman
Trouble Sleeping	1995	National Theatre Studio, London	Unknown
The Decameron	1995	Gate Theatre, Notting Hill, London	Unknown
The Play What I Wrote	2001	Wyndham's Theatre, London	Mystery Guest

Sources

Some information in this table was obtained from "Ioan Gruffudd CV". Hamilton Hodell Talent Management. Retrieved 15 May 2008.

Charities

Ioan Gruffudd supports the following charitable cause: AIDS.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]