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by | Dec 19, 2023 | Trumpet Vine

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Rafael Santiago Casal (born August 8, 1985) is an American writer, rapper, producer, director, actor, and showrunner originally from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Early life

Casal grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, California.[1] He was expelled from Berkeley High School after two years and earned his diploma through an alternative independent study program.[2] He was an undergraduate at University of Wisconsin, Madison. Casal identifies as Irish, from his mother's side, and Spanish and Cuban from his father's side.[3]

Career

Poetry

At 18, Casal appeared on 3 seasons of HBO's Def Poetry Jam. At the same time, he was touring, performing, and teaching nationwide with YouthSpeaks. He is a two time Brave New Voice Poetry Slam Festival champion. Casal spent three years designing and serving as creative director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's First Wave[4] Spoken Word and Hip Hop Arts Learning Community while earning his degree at night.[2]

Music

In July 2010, Casal released The BAY BOY Mixtape with Daveed Diggs and Chinaka Hodge as the Getback Productions crew. Casal also released several mixtapes online: As Good As Your Word (2008), Monster (2009) and Mean Ones (2012).[2] In 2018, Casal and Diggs released the Collin and Miles EPs to accompany their film Blindspotting.[5]

Theater

Casal co-founded the BARS workshop at the Public Theater in NYC with Daveed Diggs,[6] as a "space for artists to investigate and develop their craft at the intersection of contemporary verse and theatre”.

Film and television

In 2018, Casal and best friend Daveed Diggs released their movie, Blindspotting. The pair wrote, produced, and starred in the film, which uses verse to tell the story of the town of Oakland, California.[7]

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? He made a brief appearance in the Netflix documentary series, Amend: The Fight for America.

In 2020, Blindspotting was adapted as a comedy-drama series of the same name, with Casal serving as co-writer, director, executive producer, and showrunner, as well as reprising his role as Miles Turner.[8] The series was picked up by Lionsgate Television and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 11, 2021. It began streaming on Starz and StarzPlay on June 13, 2021. [citation needed] In October 2021, Starz renewed the series for a second season. It premiered at SXSW in March 2023 and on Starz on April 14, 2023.[9] Blindspotting was cancelled in September 2023.

Casal starred as X-5/Brad Wolfe in the second season[10] of the series Loki which premiered in October 2023.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2008 The Break Up Boy Short; also writer
2010 Ricochet in Reverse Dylan Klebold Short
2014 The Away Team Cal Web series; also creator, producer, director
2014 Mali Music: Beautiful Producer; TV Movie
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[11] 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

References

  1. ^ Barnes, Brooks (11 July 2018). "Oakland in their bones, and in their films". NY Times. p. 6. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Danzig, Christopher (10 November 2010). "The Def Poetry of Rafael Casal". East Bay Express. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  3. ^ Betancourt, Manuel. "Rafael Casal on Creating a Complex Portrait of Oakland's Race & Class Dynamics in 'Blindspotting'". Remezcla. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  4. ^ "Rafael Casal: Making the most of his fearlessness". news.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  5. ^ "Music from Blindspotting (2018)". Tunefind. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  6. ^ Diaz-Hurtado, Jessica (December 17, 2016). "'Bars Medley': Classic Literature Remixed Into Hip-Hop And Verse". NPR. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  7. ^ Dry, Jude (July 27, 2018). "'Blindspotting': How Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal Made the First Buddy Comedy About Gentrification and White Privilege". IndieWire. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  8. ^ Otterson, Joe (September 10, 2020). "'Blindspotting' Series Starring Jasmine Cephas Jones Gets Greenlight at Starz". Variety. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  9. ^ "SXSW Lineup Includes 'Dungeons & Dragons' On Opening Night, 'Evil Dead Rise', Eva Longoria's 'Flamin' Hot', A24's 'Problemista' & More". 11 January 2023.
  10. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2022-07-15). "'Loki': Rafael Casal Joins Season 2 Of Marvel Series For Disney+". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  11. ^ "Rafael Casal". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
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