Richard Rankin has joined Starz’s “Outlander” for Season 2 as Roger Wakefield, a fan favorite character from Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling novels.
Those fans know Roger plays a pivotal role in the lives of Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and their time-travelling story.
Scottish actor Rankin will play the adult Roger Wakefield, whom fans met in Season 1 as the school-aged adopted son (and nephew) of Rev. Wakefield. In Season 2, Roger has become a professor at Oxford University with an interest in history that was no doubt sparked by his adopted father.
From Ronald D. Moore, “Outlander” is currently filming on location in Scotland and returns in Spring 2016.
On the big screen, Rankin recently starred in “Burnt” with Bradley Cooper, Uma Thurman and Sienna Miller.
“Masterpiece” fans may recognize Rankin from the fall series “The Crimson Field,” in which he played World War I Capt. Thomas Gillan. He also has appeared in NBC’s “American Odyssey,” BBC’s “The Syndicate” and “From Darkness.” He will next be seen playing a detective in BBC’s miniseries “Thirteen.”
Born in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire on the outskirts of Glasgow, Rankin played various roles in three seasons of sketch comedy show “Burnistoun.”
According to Starz, Season 2 of “Outlander” begins as Claire and Jamie arrive in France, hell-bent on infiltrating the Jacobite rebellion led by Prince Charles Stuart, and stopping the battle of Culloden.
With the help of his cousin Jared, a local wine merchant, Jamie and Claire are thrown into the lavish world of French society, where intrigue and parties are abundant, but political gain proves far less fruitful.
Altering the course of history presents challenges that begin to weigh on the very fabric of their relationship. However, armed with the knowledge of what lies ahead, Claire and Jamie must race to prevent a doomed Highland uprising, and the extinction of Scottish life as they know it.