After playing Oscar Wilde's gay lover in Wilde (1997) and Officer Lowe in Titanic (1997), Gruffudd became a leading man in the Hornblower series. Next he played Pip in the big budget BBC production of Great Expectations (1999) (TV).Ioan was born in Cardiff, Wales, UK. His parents, Peter and Gillian Gruffudd were educators. He has a brother, Alun, who is two years younger and a sister, Siwan, who is 7 years younger. He attended the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts from 1992 to 1995, but was then cast as Poldark in the popular British tv