| Rafael Casal | |
| Birth Name: | Rafael Santiago Casal |
| Birth Date: | 8 August 1985 |
| Birth Place: | Berkeley, California |
| Education: | Berkeley High School |
| Years Active: | 2008–present |
Rafael Santiago Casal (born August 8, 1985) is an American writer, rapper, producer, director, actor, musician, and showrunner originally from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Casal grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, California. He was expelled from Berkeley High School after two years but earned his diploma through an alternative independent study program. [1] Casal later designed and served as creative director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s First Wave Spoken Word and Hip Hop Arts Programme while earning a sociology degree at night.[2]
Casal identifies as Irish, from his mother's side, and Spanish and Cuban from his father's side.[3]
At 18, Casal appeared on 3 seasons of HBO's Def Poetry Jam while touring, performing, and teaching nationwide with YouthSpeaks. He is a two-time Brave New Voice Poetry Slam Festival champion.
Casal has released several mixtapes online,[4] including As Good As Your Word (2008), Monster (2009), and Mean Ones (2012). He also collaborated with best friend Daveed Diggs and Chinaka Hodge to release The Getback Mixtape, vol. 1 (2007) and The BAY BOY Mixtape (2010) as the Getback Productions Crew.
In 2018, Casal and Diggs released the Collin and Miles EPs to accompany their film Blindspotting.[5]
Casal and Diggs co-founded the BARS workshop at the Public Theater in New York City. [6] The workshops serve as a platform for artists to explore and enhance their craft by merging contemporary verse with theatre.
In 2018, Casal and Daveed Diggs released their movie, Blindspotting. The duo wrote, produced, and starred in the film, which uses verse to tell the story of Oakland, California.[7]
In 2020, the movie was adapted as a comedy-drama series of the same name. Casal reprised his role as Miles and served as co-writer, director, executive producer, and showrunner.[8] The series premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 11, 2021, and began streaming on starz on June 13, 2021. Season 2 premiered at SXSW in March 2023 and began streaming on April 14, 2023.[9] In September 2023 Blindspotting was cancelled.[10]
Casal has also appeared in supporting roles in Bad Education, The Good Lord Bird and the second revival of Are You Afraid of the Dark? In 2023 he appeared as X-5/Brad Wolfe in the second season[11] of the series Loki.
| 2010 | Ricochet in Reverse | Dylan Klebold | YouTube Short |
| 2014 | The Away Team | Cal | Web series; also creator, producer, director |
| 2018 | Blindspotting | Miles | Also co-producer, co-writer |
| 2018 | Rachel Dratch's Late Night Snack | Elliot | Season 2 Episode 7 |
| 2019 | Stucco | Throne - Crowning Arm | Short |
| 2019 | Bad Education[12] | Kyle Contreras | |
| 2019 | Are You Afraid of the Dark? | Mr. Top Hat | Miniseries |
| 2020 | The Good Lord Bird | General John Cook | Miniseries |
| 2021 | Blindspotting | Miles | Also executive producer, director, and writer |
| 2023 | Loki | Hunter X-5 / Brad Wolfe | Season 2 |
| 2023 | Wildcat | O.E. Parker | Appears in 9 minute Vignette “Parker’s back” |