Here is a NEW Interview with Richard Rankin from Backstage
From Backstage:
“Everything’s quite domestic at the moment,” says Richard Rankin. He’s embracing the calm before the storm that is filming Season 4 of the historical time travel drama “Outlander.” The Scottish actor plays Roger Wakefield, a professor at Oxford who helps reveal the time travel narrative. Before Season 3’s premiere on Starz, Rankin discussed his must-watch TV picks and acting for an international audience.
More after the jump!
What has working on “Outlander” added to your acting skills?
There’s a lot of expectation on “Outlander,” especially for Roger. You need to bring a bag of tricks along with that. That’s a part of learning and developing your craft. You just have to put in the work. Drama school is important over here, reading a lot of books on acting, learning from other actors. I like to take something from every job that I do and I appreciate every actor’s process. For younger actors, just packing up every little bit of experience you have, even if you’re just getting technically involved. Crew these things. I still do that. If I don’t have projects on the go, I’ll be an assistant director. Getting involved always improves you as an actor. Having appreciation for everything that goes into a production is valuable as well.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would be telling myself to work on various skills that I now have that I could’ve had earlier: accent work, horse riding, I was always pretty adept at stage combat. I could’ve taken it more seriously. All of the things that count towards your versatility as an actor.
Other than those you just mentioned, do you have any other special skills on your résumé?
I think I have the core set skills for actors: Stage combat, horse riding. I think I have ice hockey on my CV. I used to play ice hockey when I was younger. It’s nothing that’s ever came to any use—not yet! I did a lot of martial arts when I was younger. Again, I haven’t used it but that’s not to say it won’t come up.
Can hardly wait to see his role as Roger Wakefield (Mackenzie). This is a difficult role – a lot of reserve yet wanting to explore!