A Chat with Ioan Gruffudd

I spoke to actor Ioan Gruffudd two weeks before the U.S. television premiere of HORATIO HORNBLOWER: MUTINY, and if Ioan's recent experience is any indicator -- "I'm doing many, many more interviews this time," he says -- MUTINY and its sequel, RETRIBUTION, should prove to be even bigger hits than the original batch of HORNBLOWERs, which won the 1999 Emmy for Best Mini-Series. (MUTINY debuts Sunday, April 8, on A&E; RETRIBUTION debuts Sunday, April 15; both films 8PM Eastern.)
I introduced myself to Ioan -- a self-described "computer illiterate" -- by explaining a bit about The Flick Filosopher:

ON INTERNET FANDOM
MAJ: I review mostly theatrical movies, but once in a while I do review made-for-cable movies. And one of the reasons my site has become so popular is because of the HORNBLOWER movies. When I posted reviews of the first four films, my traffic went through the roof.
IG: Wow!
MAJ: So you have quite a following online through your HORNBLOWER movies.
IG: Oh, wow.
MAJ: So I know that anything you have to say to my readers, they will be overjoyed to hear.
IG: [laughs] Oh, that's very kind of you.

ON BEING AN ACTOR
MAJ: One of the reasons I think that the films are so popular is the element of fantasy. Obviously the movies don't sugarcoat the hard lives that these sailors led, but there's still a feeling of adventure on the high seas, and of the romance of being swept away into the past. Do you ever get the chance to get caught up in it, when you're on that beautiful ship, when you're in that wonderful costume... or is there just too much else going on, with cameras in your face?
IG: When we did the first few, the fact that we were sailing and were on the sea, and it was bitterly cold and it was raining, and we were wearing those costumes did help. You did get a little bit of a sense of what it must have been like. We only sailed every day for about 12 weeks, and it was hard going, but we were only filming and acting in front of the cameras. We weren't working hard -- we weren't putting the sails up and taking them down and fighting a war. You certainly did get a sense of how tough it was. And a respect for that period definitely hit home. And from an acting point of view it was much easier then. It would help sometimes if you were worried about a scene. The ship was pitching and tossing -- it was hard enough just to stand upright, so you'd forget about what the scene was about and you were much more relaxed when you were fighting for balance. But it was grueling in that sense as well, from an acting point of view, because it wasn't easy.

Hornblower

MAJ: I know a lot of actors are drawn to acting because they do like getting lost in other characters, lost in the fantasy. They like the idea of being other people, at least for a short period of time. Is that something that attracted you to acting? Or is there another reason all together?
IG: No, I think that is the main reason. You have this gift and this ability to possibly mimic or become somebody else, or pretend to become somebody else -- because it is only pretend. That's something that I think every child goes through and I don't think I've grown out of that yet. [laughs]
MAJ: You've been acting since you were a child though, isn't that right?
IG: Yes, since I was 13. I was in a Welsh language soap opera and then I left for school -- drama college -- so, yes, pretty much.
MAJ: So did acting professionally just become an extension of normal childhood playacting that we all do? Did you know when you were 13 that you wanted to do this for the rest of your life?
IG: No. No, to be honest with you, I didn't know this is what I wanted. I loved sports and music and languages and stuff. So that decision came along at the end of my schooling, really. I decided: If I got into drama college I'd go. If I didn't then I'd go to university.

Warriors

MAJ: In the last couple of years alone, you've done such an amazing range of characters. I saw WARRIORS recently and was really moved by it. I thought it was wonderful, one of the best movies I'd ever seen about being a soldier.
IG: Well, thank you. You know, I was very proud of that. That's probably one of my proudest moments.
MAJ: In the U.S., though, the role that you're known best for is Hornblower.
IG: Yeah.
MAJ: Do you have any worries about getting typecast?
IG: Not really, no. Because, as you said, you have seen me in other things. And the casting directors and heads of studios with imagination see me doing other things and can physically see me doing things, if I wanted to show them all those other tapes. Of course, there is that fear. But I'm quite proud to be known as Hornblower.
MAJ: You should be. They're wonderful films.
IG: But I understand what you're saying. And I did have that concern at the beginning when I signed up to do it for about five series or whatever. But I was convinced, and quite confident in myself, that I would be able to work outside of it. And I think I've proven that.

102 Dalmatians

MAJ: Do you have a dream role? Are there certain genres that you want to work in? Is there a certain character that you'd like to play?
IG: As an actor, you'd like to have a go at everything. And I've certainly had a chance to do many things these last couple of years. One of the things that I've said is doing a western. Apart from the idea of being on the back of a horse, wide open expanses, pistol by my side, there's the romantic thing. I'd like to do everything! I'd like to play a really hard, serious nut case, like a serial killer or something. Those are the ultimate parts for good actors. But also, from an acting point of view, they can be quite easy, because they're so removed from you that it is playing. It's the ultimate use of the imagination, whereas playing heroes and leading men is quite hard because you need to be neutral and you need to be a hero, and you're not necessarily being the most interesting character.

ON MUTINY AND RETRIBUTION
MAJ: Can you talk a bit about the experience of filming the new batch? Was it different? Did you feel more confident in the character? It's noticeable that you've grown as an actor in these two new films, and also that Horatio has grown. Did you approach the character differently the second time around?
IG: Because of the success of the first films, I began very nervously and I think I put some added pressure on myself, because I wanted it to be better than the first one, and as a result I got very nervous. But, after about two weeks of filming, I realized that I was trying too hard and the character was already there and was within me, and the fact that I had grown up. I'm three years older and three years wiser, and so is Hornblower. I was just trying too hard and I just had to relax. And once I passed that moment, then it just came naturally and almost too easy. I just felt so close to him. It didn't feel like working or working hard.
MAJ: I think there's a nice contrast with the new young officer, Wellard, who is sort of Horatio three years ago.
IG: Absolutely! Absolutely! Yes!
MAJ: We really can see how much Horatio has grown.
IG: Yes! Yes! Yes! And the fact that he saw so much of himself in Wellard and he did take care of him and look after him.

Ioan's final comments regard serious spoilers for RETRIBUTION, so please don't read further until you've seen the film.

ON ARCHIE'S DEATH
MAJ: Poor Archie!
IG: Oh! I know, I know. That was one thing I was bitterly disappointed by. I couldn't believe that was allowed to happen.
MAJ: One of the reasons that I know that a lot of women are attracted to the Hornblower movies is because of the whole platonic romance between Archie and Horatio.
IG: Absolutely. It's very moving.
MAJ: There are gonna be a lot broken hearts at the end of RETRIBUTION.
IG: I know.

ON WHO PUSHED SAWYER
IG: Maybe a little bit, you know, [Horatio]'s into his own devices. By acting to try to keep quiet as much as possible about the whole incident. Because nobody knows who actually pushed him down there.
MAJ: I don't think Horatio pushed the captain. It doesn't seem like Horatio.
IG: No, no.
MAJ: No. So you don't think he did either?
IG: It's very... interesting. That's one of the big sort of mysteries of Hornblower in the novels. Wellard doesn't die in that group of novels -- that's just something we've created. Down the line in the books, Hornblower hears of Wellard's death and sort of dismisses it -- "Oh, okay, whatever" -- and it suggests that Hornblower is pleased that he is gone because he might have witnessed something and kept it a secret all his life. Certainly as an actor he was more fun to play it that way, as Hornblower could have done it and possibly did -- but it was a calculated thing that he did just in that moment, I think, just to protect the ship and the men. But who knows? Who knows?

MaryAnn Johanson
The Flick Filosopher
April 5, 2001

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MaryAnn Johanson.
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