Ioan Gruffudd

Ioan Gruffudd (say: Yo-wahn Griffith) is a British actor who rose to fame through two very different roles: As the emponymous character in Horatio Hornblower, the Series Of The Books by C. S. Forester, and as Mr. Fantastic in the two Fantastic Four movies. Born in Cardiff in 1973, he started out as an actor in his native Britain but moved to the US a couple of years ago and has since appeared in a number of guest appearances on TV shows as well as in movies. Has recently landed a role on the CW's new Film Noir-style show Ringer.

Oh, and his first language is Welsh. Just listen.

Some of his works include:

• Titanic as Officer Harold Lowe, the man captaining the lifeboat who rescues Rose
• Horatio Hornblower as, well, Horatio Hornblower
• King Arthur as Lancelot
• Fantastic Four & Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic
• Amazing Grace as William Wilberforce
• Century City
• Sanctum
• Ringer as Andrew Martin
• Horrible Bosses as 'the Wetwork Man'

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Tropes associated with Ioan:

• Awesome, Dear Boy: During one promotional interview for Fantastic Four, he mentioned rather enjoying playing a character nicknamed "Mr. Fantastic," and added that, frankly, as far as nicknames go, it beats "Horatio Hornblower."
• Curtains Match the Window
• Hot Dad
• Memetic Mutation: As much as he hates it. Thanks to an an unfortunate photo of him taken years ago, the Urban Dictionary has decided to "The Gruffudd" a synonym for pubic hair.
• Quintessential British Gentleman: For a while, it seemed he would forever be getting typecast as this.
• Spell My Name with an "S": Has said he's determined never to lose his Welsh name, and has succeeded so far.