Ioan Gruffudd

Ioan Gruffudd was born on 6 October 1973 in Llwydcoed, Aberdare, Wales, to parents Gillian and Peter Gruffudd. He has two younger siblings, sister Siwan and brother Alun. During childhood, he attended Ysgol Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd, Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf. Later on, he studied at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London). In 2007, Gruffudd got married to actress Alice Evans. Together, the couple have two daughters, Elsie and Ella.

Gruffudd began his acting career in 1986, at the age of thirteen in the Welsh television film ‘Austin’. He then appeared in the Welsh soap opera named ‘Pobol y Cwm’ from 1987–94. Then while attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, he was cast in the play ‘Hedda Gabler’. During that time, he also did other plays titled ‘Trouble Sleeping’ and ‘The Decameron’. Then Gruffudd was offered the lead role in the TV show ‘Poldark’ in 1996. The following year, he played the role of John Gray in the flick ‘Wilde’. This performance was followed by his role in the blockbuster movie ‘Titanic’ after which he landed the role of Horatio Hornblower in the TV project ‘Hornblower’.

The Welsh actor then did a number of films in the year 2001, namely, ‘Another Life’, ‘Very Annie Mary’, ‘Happy Now’ and ‘Black Hawk Down’. He also did the play ‘The Play What I Wrote’ that year. The following year, he did the TV movie ‘Man and Boy’ as well as the movies ‘Shooters’ and ‘The Gathering’. After this, in 2004, Gruffudd appeared in the show ‘Century City’ and in the flick ‘King Arthur’. He later on was cast as Reed Richards in ‘Fantastic Four’. During this time, he also lent his voice to the character of Mister Miracle in the TV series ‘Justice League Unlimited’.

In 2007, Gruffudd reprised his role of Reed Richards in the sequel of Fantastic Four – ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’. A year later, he appeared in the television film ‘The Meant to Be's’ and in the flick ‘W.’ After this, the versatile actor did voice work for the shows ‘Ben 10: Alien Force’ and ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’. This was followed by his lead role as Andrew Martin in the TV program ‘Ringer’. Then from 2011 to 2014, Gruffudd did several small and big screen projects including ‘Horrible Bosses’, ‘Sanctum’, ‘Mariah Mundi and the Midas Box’, ‘Foster’, ‘Playing It Cool’, ‘The British’, ‘Monday Mornings’, ‘Necessary Roughness’, ‘Glee’ and ‘Under Milk Wood’, to name a few. He then got the lead role in the show ‘Forever’. In 2015, he was cast in the movies ‘San Andreas’ and ‘Keep Watching’. The following year, he starred in the Lifetime Network Series titled ‘Unreal’.