When The Reverend’s Boy Loses the Jumper… A Peek at Richard Rankin

Photo: This Lass Reviews

Roger is a pretty conservative guy. Sure he’s given to an impromptu rat satire now and again, but he’s all bundled up in those wooly jumpers (sweaters), and drab professorly browns. Richard Rankin, who plays Roger (as you know) made his first fan convention appearance recently at The Gathering 2017, and turned out to be quite a departure from his character. 

I was supposed to meet (and interview) Richard Rankin in Germany at the convention earlier this month. When some pressing family matters came up, I opted to stay home. I’m glad I did; family comes first. But after seeing snippets of his panels and hilarious poses with fans for photos, I really do look forward meeting Richard at some point in the future. What a bloody FUN guy!

Here’s a 60 second Q&A with Richard Rankin from BAFTA Guru…

Apparently Richard does such a good Glaswegian accent that some of us are having trouble understanding him, so I’m adding a wee transcript of this video:

“Hi I’m Richard Rankin and this is my BAFTA 60 seconds challenge. OK so, here we go…
What’s the secret to success? Hard work and a lot o’ luck.
If you could steal someone else’s career, who would it be? It would probably be… Emma Thompson
Who should play the next Dr Who? Lenny Henry… or me.
What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you on set? I got hit in the face with a cake by a runner… Jimmy Watkins
Who’s your guru? I’m re-reading a Mitzner book at the moment, I suppose the fact that I’m re-reading it means he’s a bit of a guru for me.
Age 5, what did you want to be when you grew up? When I was 5, I think I wanted to be Stay-puff Marshmallow man from Ghostbusters.
Which accent do you think is the easiest and hardest to do? The easiest accent… I do Glaswegian really well. And hardest I find for myself is ‘South African’ (said in a South African accent)
What are your tips for auditioning? Getting along with the casting director, yeah.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what film, TV Box set, or video game would you take with you? World of Warcraft (my 14 year old says this is probably the most popular video game ever created).
Sum up your job in 3 words: bloody good fun.
So, I’ve been Richard Rankin, and thank you very much.”

This video transcription is brought to you by my ears that have been trained to understand a Glaswegian accent thanks to hours and hours of editing my interview with Àdhamh Ó Broin (thanks Àdhamh!)

 

And some sassy photos and a gif from The Gathering 2017…

Photo: Izzie @AndrewGowerF4ns

In case you haven’t been to a fan convention, there’s normally a chance to pose with the actors for a professional photo which makes a nice souvenir. Sometimes fans request silly poses, and it looks as if RR was all in for the fun… love it!

The actors often meet each other for the first time at these events; if they’ve never had a scene together, there’s a good chance they haven’t met (unless at a read through or some other group meeting). Here is an adorable shot of Rosie Day (Mary Hawkins) and Richard, which Rosie posted on Twitter.

Yet another fun Scot, that country seems full of them. Looking forward to more RR and Roger in Season 3!

16 comments on “When The Reverend’s Boy Loses the Jumper… A Peek at Richard Rankin

  1. Wonderful photos and video! Thank you!

    I get what Adam (sorry – sp?) was saying early on about having to ask the Scottish actors to lighten (de thicken?) their accents a bit so the “rest of the world” could understand the dialog (Gary Lewis seems to have figured this out beautifully, or maybe Colum’s accent/ and the accent he uses in interviews, is just how he sounds in “real life”). I think of myself as being rather good at understanding a wide variety of accents and versions of English (I was an English as a second language teacher for 20+ years and worked with folks from all over the world) but I had NO clue what Rik was saying *at least* 5 times in that clip. Finally on the 3rd try I got he was mentioning a South African accent, but what was the first accent he listed in answer to the easy/hard accent question? I never did figure it out. Anyone?

    Oh my… wonderful to listen to… Does get easier with exposure. I remember watching the first 20 minutes of The Full Monty, with many of the actors speaking in very broad Manchester, England accents, and thinking, “I’m not going to understand a thing this whole blasted movie!” and then your brain wiring just tweaks itself a bit and presto!

      • Thank you! I spent a few days in Glasgow about 10 years ago but I guess the locals whom we interacted with took pity on us the minute they heard our American accents and tweaked their own a bit so we could follow them.

      • Wow! That was fast! Thank you so much! I’d like to think that perhaps it’s partly that the sound system on my computer just isn’t that great and that I’m getting over a bad head cold. Excuses excuses!

  2. I’m really looking forward to Rankin’s Roger…but must admit…his brogue (sp?) is so think I can barely, if at all, understand him.

  3. Courtney, I LOVE that you provided a transcript! I have such trouble with accents…I often turn on the subtitles to Outlander, The Crown, Elementary, or Once Upon a Time (just to name a few) so that I can catch what all these English/Irish/Scottish/Australian actors are saying. The one accent I can follow is South African as I have a good many relatives from there. ?

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