Gayle Rankin is a Scottish actress. She is known for her role as Sheila in the Netflix series GLOW (2017–2019).^[1] She also played Emily Dodson in the HBO series Perry Mason (2020). Her films include The Greatest Showman (2017), Her Smell (2018), Blow the Man Down and The Climb (both 2019).

Rankin has joined the cast of the HBO series House of the Dragon for its second season as Alys Rivers.

Rankin was born in Paisley and grew up in Eaglesham and Kilmaurs. She has an older sister. She attended Mearns Castle High School^[2] and completed sixth form at Knightswood Secondary School's Dance School of Scotland.^[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.^[4][5][1] She was also awarded an international fellowship to study in Sydney, Australia.^[6]

In 2012, Rankin made her acting debut in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.^[7] In 2017, Rankin began appearing on Glow, as Sheila the She-Wolf.^[8] It premiered on 23 June 2017, on Netflix.^[9] The show was renewed for a third season^[10] which premiered on 9 August 2019.

In 2017, Rankin appeared in The Meyerowitz Stories, directed by Noah Baumbach. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and was released by Netflix on 13 October 2017.^[11][12] That same year, she appeared in The Greatest Showman opposite Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams.^[13][14]

In 2018, Rankin appeared in Irreplaceable You, directed by Stephanie Laing, opposite Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Michiel Huisman. It was released by Netflix on 16 February 2018.^[15] That same year, she appeared in In a Relationship directed by Sam Boyd, which had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on 20 April 2018,^[16] and in Her Smell, directed by Alex Ross Perry, opposite Elisabeth Moss and Agyness Deyn.^[17]

In 2020, she was cast as Emily Dodson, the mother of Charlie Dodson, a 1-year-old child who is mysteriously kidnapped in Perry Mason.^[18]

In April 2023, it was announced that Rankin had been cast as Alys Rivers in the second season of House of the Dragon.^[19]

On Broadway, she has starred in the 2014 revival of Cabaret as Fräulein Kost. She will star as Sally Bowles in the 2024 revival opposite Eddie Redmayne.^[20]