Richard Rankin

Scottish actor Richard Rankin played numerous upstanding young men on series like "The Crimson Field" (BBC One, 2014) and "American Odyssey" (NBC, 2015) before vaulting to international attention with a starring role on the popular historical fantasy drama "Outlander" (Starz, 2014- ). Born Richard Harris on January 4, 1983 in Glasgow, Scotland, he worked in information technology before a trip to Los Angeles persuaded him to change career paths and become an actor. After training at Glasgow's Langside College, he adopted his mother's maiden name for his surname before landing minor parts on Scottish television series. His breakout showcase came with "Burnistoun" (BBC Two Scotland/BBC One Scotland, 2009-2012), a sketch comedy series starring Scottish comics Iain Connell and Robert Florence as multiple residents in a fictitious town near Glasgow. He then segued into dramatic series for the BBC, including the World War I drama "The Crimson Field" (2014), "The Syndicate" (BBC One, 2012- ) and the short-lived American thriller "American Odyssey" (NBC, 2015), which marked his Stateside television debut. Rankin made a brief appearance as a waiter in the Bradley Cooper drama "Burnt" (2015) before returning to UK television, where he landed prominent roles on two major series. In the miniseries "Thirteen" (BBC Three, 2016- ), he was a detective involved in a case regarding a woman who had been held captive in a cellar for more than a decade, while in the second season of the U.S.-British series "Outlander," he played the adult Roger Wakefield, son of James Fleet's Dr. Reginald Wakefield, and a major figure in the time-traveling escapades of series leads Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Frasher (Sam Heughan).