Ioan Gruffudd


Did you get into the comics, growing up in Wales, or were you too busy reading classics and literature?
IG: To be honest I’d never heard of the Fantastic Four. I didn’t even know of their existence. I certainly wasn’t a comic book reader as a child. I was a total newcomer to this project. Subsequently I’ve gone and researched it and a rather nice bit of research it was too. Sitting on a beach reading comic books.

What sort of reaction did you get when you went to Comic-Con?
IG: I certainly didn’t have as much of a standing ovation as Jessica, and they were a little bit shocked when I opened my mouth and spoke in a broad Welsh accent. “How dare this Brit represent this American comic book icon”. Any jokes that I tried to crack were met with deathly silence from 7000 people. Obviously I subsequently researched the character and worked on the accent. I think I pulled it off.

So was the Welsh accent a problem?
IG: I really had to fight to get this part. I auditioned and pursued this part. Part of it was convincing the casting director, and the director, that I could do the American accent.

Was the off-screen dynamic similar to the one on screen, even if they couldn’t understand your accent or humour?
IG: The success of the film is that it is based on them being a family, or a dysfunctional, functional family of superheroes. It has to be our relationships off camera, or any sort of relationship, that forms the relationships on the screen. You do believe that Chris and Jessica are bickering like brother and sister; that Michael and I are best mates and I feel guilty for what I’ve done to him. There was definitely a lot of banter on the set, because the process of making this kind of film can be quite tedious, as it is so technically based. We did our duty as actors to bring the characters to life, to make them three-dimensional and the visual effects team have gone and run with it and married those two together to create this believable film.

Could you see yourself staying in the States or coming back to Britain to do some TV or stage?
IG: I’m always aware of what’s happening here. I’m physically living in Los Angeles because I really enjoy living there. I certainly went out there with the ambition of making movies, because they make more movies in Los Angeles.

Will you go the way of Anthony Hopkins and get American citizenship?
IG: Maybe for tax reasons. But, with regards to Hornblower, I’d love to play that character again. To play that character through every stage of his life.

What about Mr Fantastic’s grey streaks? Was that like seeing yourself at a future stage of your life?
IG: That was a tedious process. We went for the full shock of white hair, like in the comic, and it looked ridiculous. I looked like a raccoon. So we made it subtler, made it look a bit more distinguished. George Clooney was the look we were after.

If you could choose a super power for the weekend, what would it be and how would you use it?
IG: Something for the weekend? I wouldn’t mind having the ability to stretch. We can all do with a bit of help now and again, especially after ten pints of lager.

Then wouldn’t it be better to be made of rock, like The Thing? On a similar track, how did you do the scenes of kissing the Invisible Woman?
IG: Jessica kindly let me feel what it was actually like, before I started kissing the air and miming it, so I could get into what it felt like. Those moments in the film, we would do it once naturally, then Jessica would walk away and I would resort to mime.

Finally, what is the best way to carry off wearing spandex?
IG: Six months down the gym. To be honest you need the help of the sculptor who sculpted the muscle suits we wore underneath. Well, myself and Chris [Evans] anyway. Jessica is perfectly natural.