Background
Rankin was born Richard Harris in Glasgow in 1983 and grew up in Rutherglen. Upon becoming an actor, he began using his mother"s maiden name, Rankin, to prevent confusion with Irish actor Richard Harris.
Rankin was born Richard Harris in Glasgow in 1983 and grew up in Rutherglen. Upon becoming an actor, he began using his mother"s maiden name, Rankin, to prevent confusion with Irish actor Richard Harris.
He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Scottish sketch show Burnistoun and as Captain Thomas Gillan in the British Broadcasting Corporation One war drama The Crimson Field. Rankin first came to prominence with Robert Florence, starring alongside him in VideoGaiden and Burnistoun. After brief appearances on Scottish television shows such as Taggart and Legit, he was approached by the British Broadcasting Corporation to star as Captain Thomas Gillan in a mini-series called The Crimson Field alongside Kevin Doyle and Oona Chaplin.
The series aired on British Broadcasting Corporation One on in April 2014.
He also starred in a low-budget horror film, House of Him, which was released during the Glasgow Film Festival in February 2014. In January 2015, Rankin joined the cast of the British Broadcasting Corporation One crime drama series Silent Witness in the two-part story "Fallen Angels", playing Detective Inspector Luke Nelson.
In December of the same year, it was announced that Rankin had been cast as Roger Wakefield in the Starz series Outlander.