The popular Welsh name “Ioan” is an equivalent of “John”, and “Gruffudd” corresponds to the Anglicised “Griffith”. It has neither aided my progress nor hampered it. My culture and heritage is a very rich one. So what if it’s difficult for people to pronounce. Gruffudd attended Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar (Ynyslwyd) (now situated in Cwmdare), Ysgol Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd, and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, where he sat his GCSEs and A-Levels. 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.
