Ioan Gruffudd (Welsh:[ˈjɔanˈɡrɪfɪð]ⓘ; /ˈjoʊɑːnˈɡrɪfɪθ/; born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh-American actor. He is known for his roles in film and television series in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.
Gruffudd was born on 6 October 1973 in Aberdare,[2] the eldest of three siblings. His parents, Gillian (née James) and Peter Griffiths (Ioan uses Gruffudd, the more traditional Welsh version of the surname[citation needed]), were both teachers.[3]
He was an accomplished oboist in his teens,[6] achieving a Grade 8 level in the ABRSM music examinations[7] and playing in the South Glamorgan Youth Orchestra for several years,[8] 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.[7] 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."[9]
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 [his] head out".[10]
Career
Gruffudd in 2005
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 to 1994. 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.[11]
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. But in 1995, while in his final year, he was cast in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler as George (Jørgen) Tesman, the husband of Hedda, the lead character. This performance led to his being offered the role of Jeremy Poldark in the 1996 TV remake of Poldark.[6][12]
After playing Oscar Wilde's lover John Gray in 1997's Wilde he took a role as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in James Cameron's 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 ITV 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."[9]
Gruffudd, a native Welsh speaker, 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".[3][13]
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.[15] 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.[16]
Gruffudd débuted his new male lead of Dr Andrew Earlham, a respected surgeon and widowed father of a teenage son, on 11 September 2017, in ITV's new 6-part thriller miniseries, Liar. Dr Earlham's world—personally and professionally—is torn asunder when his son's schoolteacher, Laura Neilson (Joanne Froggatt) accuses him of raping her after their first date, the details of which she cannot remember. Liar also began airing in the US on SundanceTV on 25 September 2017.
In 2018, Gruffudd was cast as forensic pathologist Dr. Daniel Harrow in the Australian TV show Harrow airing on the ABC.[17] The show is set and filmed in Brisbane and focuses on Gruffudd's character Dr. Harrow - a forensic pathologist with a total disregard for authority, and an unfailing empathy for the dead which helps him to solve the most bizarre cases.[17] The series was a ratings hit in Australia and overseas, and was renewed for a second series in 2019 and a third series in 2020.[18][19]
On television, Gruffudd has starred in the CW series Ringer (2011–2012), the ABC drama Forever (2014–2015), the Lifetime series UnREAL (2016), Sundance/ITV's Liar (2017–2020), and the Australian series Harrow (2018–2021).
Personal life
Gruffudd met Alice Evans in 1999 during the production of 102 Dalmatians. They moved to Los Angeles together in 2003.[21]
On 14 September 2007, they married in Mexico.[22] His best man was fellow Welsh actor Matthew Rhys, a long-time friend. Both are patrons of Trust PA, a UK spinal injuries charity.[23] Evans and Gruffudd have two daughters, born in 2009 and 2013.[24]
In an interview in 2020, Gruffudd said that working away from home meant that he and his wife had struggled to spend time with each other in the previous four years.[25] Evans announced the couple's separation in January 2021.[26] On 1 March 2021, Gruffudd filed for divorce.[27] On 14 February 2022, Gruffudd filed for a domestic violencerestraining order against Evans. This included protection of his girlfriend Bianca Wallace.[28] On 2 August 2022, Gruffudd was granted a three-year permanent domestic violence restraining order against Evans.[29] On 3 July 2023, an LA judge declared Gruffudd and Evans legally divorced.[30]
In 2024, Gruffudd confirmed that he was engaged to Bianca Wallace. The couple had confirmed their relationship in 2021.[31][32]
^In a July 2005 newspaper interview, Gruffudd said: "I hadn't been going to chapel. A guy stopped me in the street and asked if I would like to go to church. I thought it was a sign... I knew it wasn't right but I didn't feel that it was so wrong, so other-worldly – that's how convincing the whole thing was. In the end, my mum had to come up to London to sort my head out." Liz Hoggard (2 July 2005). "Ioan Gruffudd: Enter the dragon". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008.
^ abcd"Ioan Gruffudd (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 29 May 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
^According to the Hamilton Hodell Talent Management website, Gruffudd was involved in an "untitled Nick Ward play" written and directed by Nick Ward and performed at the Royal National Studios (see "Ioan Gruffudd CV". Hamilton Hodell Talent Management. Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2008.) The website Doollee.com indicates that Nick Ward developed his play Trouble Sleeping at the National Theatre Studio in London, and that it was staged in 1995 in Croydons' Warehouse Theatre
^ ab"Nick Ward". Doollee.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
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