‘Outlander’: Sophie Skelton Shares a Hilarious Birthday Shoutout To Her On-Screen Husband, Richard Rankin

Filming for season 6 of the highly anticipated new season of Outlander is supposed to start in 2021, but that hasn’t stopped fans from wondering how long it will be until then. Luckily, the actors who play our favorite characters are still active on social media in the interim. Sophie Skelton, who plays Brianna MacKenzie, recently wished her on-screen husband, Richard Rankin, a happy birthday with a behind-the-scenes picture.

Brianna and Roger raise their son, Jeremiah, together in North Carolina

Fans may recall how Brianna ends up in the past. She travels back to the past through the stones at Craigh na Dun to warn her parents of an impending fire in North Carolina. Roger MacKenzie (Rankin) travels after her, and they get married in a beautiful ceremony in season 5. Although they dedicated themselves to each other in a handfast ceremony in season 4, they made things official only recently.

They’re raising their son, Jeremiah, or Jemmy, together. But Brianna was sexually assaulted by Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers), and at the time of his conception, it’s unclear who Jemmy’s biological father is. But Roger takes Jemmy in as his own, and he cares for him. Book readers know that Jemmy is in fact Roger’s biological child.

But in episode 11, Jemmy touches Otter Tooth’s stone, complaining that it’s hot to the touch. Brianna and the others come closer, and all the time travelers – Bri and Roger included – start to hear buzzing. When Jemmy touches the stone, it cracks. His parents are hopeful that this is a sign that Jemmy is really Roger’s child. Plus, the family is able to travel through the stones together, although they return back to North Carolina as soon as they leave.

Brianna and Roger raise their son on Fraser’s Ridge together with Brianna’s family including her mother, Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe), and her father, Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan).

Sophie Skelton wishes Richard Rankin a happy birthday

Skelton recently shared a fun birthday shoutout to her on-screen husband. Rankin turned 38 on January 4, and Skelton decided to share a humorous photo of him sitting on the ground with someone about to put a bag over his head. It was clearly taken during filming for the scene where Roger is hanged and left for dead in season 5. Rankin can be seen with a gag in his mouth as he flips off the camera with the crew all gathered around the shot. It’s a hilarious image of Rankin, and one that fans will certainly appreciate.

Skelton captioned the post on Instagram: “A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to our classiest cast member 😜Richarddddd 🥳🥳🥳🥳 I hope your day is filled with joy, cake, and allll the good things… before we’re back working and you have to put up with me for another year. Muahahahahaaha 🤪 big love! 🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂 🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾 🎁 🎁🎁🎁🎁.”

Skelton also added a birthday shoutout to Graham McTavish (Dougal MacKenzie) and Hannah James (Geneva Dunsany), who were on the show in the past. McTavish shares a birthday with Rankin, and he turned 60. Skelton also named Erin Cahill in her post for their birthday as well.

Roger is almost killed

Fans may recall that in season 5, episode 7, Roger is entrusted to deliver a message to Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser (Duncan Lacroix) before a battle between the British and the regulators. However, he stumbles on a woman who is actually his ancestor whom he’s met before. But her husband, Buck, decides to beat Roger when he gets the wrong idea, and has him hanged with the prisoners of the British military.

But the next episode reveals Roger is still miraculously alive, but his airway is having difficulty getting air through when they cut him down. Claire uses her surgical skills to make a hole to allow air to escape his lungs. Roger has major issues trying to heal after the ordeal, but he eventually is able to talk again.

Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan joined in with their own birthday messages

Caitriona Balfe also wished both Rankin and McTavish a happy birthday on Twitter. “Happy Birthday @RikRankin and @grahammctavish… I raise a glass to you both!” She added with a party face emoji.

Sam Heughan took to Twitter as well to wish Rankin a happy birthday. “Happy birthday Mr Rankin!!!!xx,” he wrote after retweeting the official Outlander account’s post about it. He also wished Rankin and McTavish a happy birthday on his Instagram Story as well.

Hopefully Outlander will return sooner rather than later. In the meantime, we can always look forward to the actors’ posts on social media.