What it takes for a leading man to be chosen from a cast of actors is one of the mysteries of the profession. Along with the skills you might take for granted from a graduate of RADA, good looks are useful, some kind of career momentum is helpful and a certain on-screen charisma is essential. These are the qualities that have made Ioan Gruffudd one of the most promising young British performers of his generation.

Born and raised in Cardiff, his formative acting years were spent in the cast of the Welsh language soap opera Pobl Y Cwm. He has continued to work home and away since graduating in 1995. Solomon and Gaenor, in which he starred alongside Nia Roberts, used English, Welsh and Yiddish dialogue, and was nominated as Best Foreign Film in the Oscars of 2000.

But the key to his success is his ambition to establish himself in the USA. Taking full advantage of a minor part as Harold Godfrey Lowe, the Conwy–born officer in Titanic, he has starred in popular US TV drama Horatio Hornblower and appeared in a number of US-financed projects, while attracting critical acclaim for his role in Warriors, the British television drama based on the role of peacekeeping forces in Bosnia.

But at this still early point of his career, Gruffudd knows the difference between success and failure at casting stage can be nothing more than a name that can be difficult to pronounce at first hearing. Unlike many before him, however, he appears reluctant to sacrifice his identity for the sake of mainstream success.

"I"m determined not to lose my name”, he has defiantly said. “It has neither aided my progress nor hampered it. It"s just who I am. My culture and heritage is a very rich one. So what if it"s difficult for people to pronounce? We all learned how to say Schwarzenegger."