Gruffudd’s parents, Peter and Gillian (née James) Griffiths, were teachers. He also won prizes for his high baritone singing while at school, including one at the National Eisteddfod. However, he was only given small parts in the Academy’s productions, and feeling isolated and directionless, almost dropped out several times. He later landed the role as Horatio Hornblower in Hornblower, the Meridian production of the C. S. Forester novels (1998-2003), shown on ITV1 and A&E. Gruffudd has said: “It was quite something for an unknown actor to get the lead. … I would love to play this character through every stage of his life. He starred alongside Julia Roberts and Ryan Reynolds in Fireflies in the Garden.
