Christopher William Rankin (born 8 November 1983) is a New Zealand-born British actor who is best known for playing

Percy Weasley The Ministry of Magic is the government of the Magical community of Britain in J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World, headed by an official entitled the Minister for Magic. The magical government in Britain is first mentioned in ''Harry Potter and t ...

in the '' Harry Potter film franchise''.

Early life

Rankin was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand. He lived in Rothesay Bay until he was six, attending Kristin School in Albany. He and his parents subsequently moved to

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

in the United Kingdom, where he attended Northgate High School in

Dereham Dereham (), also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the Breckland District of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles (40& ...

. His mother, Marilyn Rankin works at a school, among other things.

Career

Rankin began acting at the age of eleven. He attended Shipdham Primary School, Northgate High School, and Dereham Sixth Form College. At Northgate High School he appeared in school plays of ''Bugsy Malone'' and ''The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe''. His professional acting career began when he won the role of Percy Weasley in September 2000 and he has since appeared in film, TV and theatre. In the Harry Potter series, he is a brother of Harry Potter's best friend,

Ron Weasley Ronald Bilius Weasley is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' fantasy novel series. His first appearance was in the first book of the series, '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', as the best friend of Harry Pott ...

. Rankin is the co-founder of a theatre company, Painted Horse UK. He re-appeared in the final two films of the Harry Potter film franchise, ''

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow ...

'' and '' Part 2'', after his character's absence from '' Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' and ''

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the sixth and penultimate novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. Set during Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts, the novel explores t ...

'', and only a brief non-speaking role in '' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''. Outside of the Harry Potter films, Rankin has also been seen in the TV mini-series '' The Rotters' Club'' and Channel 5's "Victoria Cross Heroes" in which he played Evelyn Wood. On stage, Chris has played a variety of roles in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

s across the country, as well as Edgar Linton in ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...

'', Eilert Loevborg in ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been ca ...

'' and Young Syrian in '' Salomé''. He completed his study at the

University of Lincoln , mottoeng = Freedom through wisdom , established = 1861 – Hull School of Art1905 – Endsleigh College1976 – Hull College1992 – University of Humberside1996 – University of Lincolnshire and Humberside2001 � ...

in 2011. In 2009, Rankin starred in and produced a YouTube video titled "LifeHack", directed by Thomas "TomSka" Ridgewell, in which he played a vigilante hacker who accesses people's personal photos to find a missing woman. He also appeared as

Mycroft Holmes Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character appearing in stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from 1893 to 1908. The elder brother (by seven years) of detective Sherlock Holmes, he is a government official and a founding member of the Diogene ...

in the Hillywood Show's " Sherlock" parody in 2016. Chris now works in Television and Film production and is credited as Production Secretary on "Atlantis" (Urban Myth Films/BBC Wales). In 2002 he began to work as an usher at

UCI Cinemas UCI Cinemas (''United Cinemas International'') is a brand of cinema, currently operating in Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Brazil, which has been owned since 2004 by Odeon Cinemas Group, whose owner is now AMC Theatres, except for the UCI Cinema ...

Film, television and stage

References

External links

*
Chris' MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rankin, Chris 1983 births English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors Living people People from Auckland 21st-century English male actors Actors from Norfolk New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom New Zealand expatriates in England 21st-century New Zealand male actors New Zealand male film actors New Zealand male television actors New Zealand male stage actors People educated at Kristin School Alumni of the University of Lincoln