| By Josh Horowitz You probably have no idea how to pronounce Ioan Gruffudd's name. Don't worry. The Welsh-born 33-year-old is so unfailingly polite, he'll probably have no problem guiding you through it one syllable at a time. (Incidentally, it's pronounced YO-an GRIFF-ith.) What's important is that to millions of superhero-loving fans he is Mr. Fantastic, the fearless leader of the Fantastic Four. Heroes have come easily thus far to Gruffudd. Besides Mr. Fantastic, he's been Lancelot to Clive Owen's King Arthur and earned a devoted following himself for his TV work as Horatio Hornblower. Gruffudd called upon the latter experience as well as the soap work he'd done in his teens (and an all-too-brief CBS drama in 2004) for this change-of-pace comedic turn in Jake Kasdan's The TV Set. Gruffudd sheds his earnest do-gooder ways to play a network executive struggling to take the high ground for David Duchovny's TV pilot in the informed film about Hollywood's familiar art vs. commerce struggle. It's not the only stretching Gruffudd's doing-he returns to lead his crime-fighting cohorts in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer this summer. Moving Pictures Magazine: What drew you to The TV Set? Ioan Gruffudd: It was the combination of the script and Jake [Kasdan]. I loved Zero Effect and Orange County. I thought, "Wow! This is a young man I'd love to work with." I had to fight to get the part because, when you think of casting a comedy or satire like this, my name wouldn't necessarily jump to mind. MPM: The idea of you auditioning for this part is more than a bit ironic, considering what we see in the film of struggling actors going through the process. Gruffudd: [Laughs] I'm happy to audition if it puts the director at ease that they're getting the right man for the job. I'm really grateful to Jake's assistant who said to him, "What about Ioan Gruffudd?" He was like, "Mr. Fantastic? No. That's not appropriate at all." He was looking for somebody who had done a comedy. MPM: In your experience, is the process of making a pilot as soul crushing as depicted in the film? Gruffudd: Everything is obviously heightened and exaggerated, but the process of testing that an actor goes through is exactly that. And I'm glad it's being highlighted, because it doesn't make sense. There are so many conflicting opinions in places of power. And it's never really the director who gets the final word. MPM: It's a miracle anything positive comes out of all these decisions by committee. Gruffudd: It's impossible! You get a comment at an audition like, "Oh, you're too tall" or "You wore the wrong jacket." Well, how does that help me do the right thing? I'd rather them be honest and say, "You're not what we're looking for." MPM: Isn't something like Fantastic Four such a big franchise for Fox that it can't help but be a giant compromise artistically? Gruffudd: With a movie of that magnitude, you're right. It is being directed by committee from the ivory towers of Los Angeles while you're filming in Vancouver. But a lot of those [studio executives] are incredibly smart. These guys are shelling out a fortune to make the movie, and they're such brilliant marketers. MPM: Do you worry about the marketing driving the process, though? Gruffudd: You can get cynical with a movie of this nature. These things have become tent-poles for the studios. You can't really fight it. You have to embrace it as much as you can, and make it more believable and invest a lot more of yourself so you don't fall flat on your face. MPM: What was the process of your getting the role of Mr. Fantastic? Gruffudd: At the beginning, I couldn't get in to be seen for it. They had very specific people in mind and that was that. I didn't get my chance until very late in the day, when they couldn't find their guy. I had a session with the casting director at Fox and she sort of coached me through the scene. One thing I was very determined about was to present myself as an American. I didn't want to read it in my own accent. When I came to it, I was so well prepared. I spent the whole afternoon with her, and then she was like, "Why don't I bring [director] Tim [Story] in?" I was warmed up by then so it was the best opportunity to present what I wanted to. Tim loved it, and then I screen-tested with several Sue Storms, and then Jessica [Alba] got the part. MPM: Do you approach Mr. Fantastic in a different way than you would another character because it is a comic-book movie? Gruffudd: I approach every character the same. There's an instinct you have for each role. Certainly it's not as easy to get under the skin of someone like Mr. Fantastic, because it's all so technical. It's all about moments, moments of action coupled with a lot of scientific jargon. The trick for me was not to make him too much of a nerd, to show that he does have potential to be Mr. Fantastic. MPM: What do you get to do with the character in the sequel? Gruffudd: For the first time in this role I felt like I was in control. I felt like I was the leader. I felt like when I was playing Horatio Hornblower, the captain of the ship. He's become the leader of the Fantastic Four. You see him become Mr. Fantastic in this one. MPM: Of course, even as you become the leader you have the Silver Surfer stealing your thunder. Gruffudd: Yeah, absolutely. I hadn't even thought of that. But now it's like, "Oh yeah, he's the star of the movie." But you know what? It's all going to reflect well on us. Everybody is dying to see this character. He's so sexy and superb. We're very happy to have him. MPM: Do you have moments when you're in a harness for hours on end in front of that green screen, thinking, "I went to RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) for this?" Gruffudd: [Laughs.] It's so bloody exposing to be in those compromising situations, especially in a blue spandex suit. But all that training at RADA actually gave me the confidence to just smile through it and not be embarrassed by it. The training puts me in good stead because you need a hell of a lot of discipline to do those takes over and over while suspended and imagining your arms are stretching to 100 feet. You have to be a child again. MPM: What happens when the die-hard Fantastic Four fan corners you? Gruffudd: I freak out. I will never be an authority on the Fantastic Four when it comes to those guys and we're never going to please them. Never. But those are also the guys that make the movie successful. I remember when we were presented as a cast at Comic-Con, I was terrified. They were very skeptical of this British actor on the stage next to Jessica Alba. Who the hell is this guy with the unpronounceable name? Luckily they were all more interested in getting Jessica's number. MPM: It's funny, but I feel like I've been reading about you in these "one to watch" actor lists for years. Gruffudd: Those things are incredibly flattering and, as you said, I've been on some of those lists for years. [Laughs] Not everybody gets a chance to be an overnight success. MPM: Were you ever resentful, perhaps, that the success that had been predicted for you didn't come sooner? Gruffudd: Never. I've always been interested in a long-term career. I started acting from the age of twelve, so I'm used to changes and pursuing goals. And of course, once you achieve some of those goals you make up new ones. I hope I never lose that passion and drive. MPM: If you believe what you read on the Internet, you were a contender for the James Bond role before Daniel Craig was cast. Gruffudd: Never was I in the mix. It was all fantastic heresy. I was very flattered that I was on those lists, but no, it was never a possibility. MPM: I guess being Mr. Fantastic has to be enough. Gruffudd: Actually, I wonder if that was part of the consideration, that I was already signed on to do him. But personally, I feel I'm ten years too young to play Bond. I'm not as masculine, looks-wise yet, as Daniel Craig. MPM: That sounds like a none-too-subtle way of saying, "Keep me in mind." Gruffudd: [Laughs] Why the hell not? | 
