Rankin joined the cast of the HBO series House of the Dragon for its second season as Alys Rivers.
[3] At 17, Rankin won a scholarship to train at the Juilliard School in New York City and became the institution's first Scottish student.
[5] In 2012, Rankin made her acting debut in a season 13 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
[12][13] In 2018, Rankin appeared in Irreplaceable You, directed by Stephanie Laing, opposite Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Michiel Huisman.
[17] In April 2023, it was announced that Rankin had been cast as Alys Rivers in the second season of House of the Dragon.