Rafael Casal

Rafael Casal
Born	Rafael Santiago Casal (1985-08-08)August 8, 1985 Berkeley, California
Education	Berkeley High School
Occupations	Actor poet writer producer showrunner
Years active	2008–present

Rafael Santiago Casal(born August 8, 1985) is an American writer, rapper, actor, producer, director, and showrunner originally from theSan Francisco Bay Area.He is also an online creator of music, poetry, web shorts, and political commentary.

Early life

Casal grew up inBerkeleyandOakland, California.He was expelled fromBerkeley High Schoolafter two years and earned his diploma through an alternative independent study program.He attended undergraduate atUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison.Casal identifies as Irish, from his mother's side, and Spanish and Cuban from his father's side.

Career

Poetry

When he was 18, Casal appeared on 3 seasons of HBO'sDef 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 theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison'sFirst WaveSpoken Word and Hip Hop Arts Learning Community while earning his degree at night.

Music

In July 2010, Casal releasedThe BAY BOY MixtapewithDaveed Diggsunder the Getback Productions crew the pair co-founded withChinaka Hodge.Casal has also released several solo mixtapes online:As Good As Your Word(2008),Monster(2009) andMean Ones(2012).In 2018, Casal and Diggs released theCollinandMilesEPs to accompany their filmBlindspotting.

Theater

Casal co-founded the BARS workshop at the Public Theater in NYC with Daveed Diggs,as a "space for artists to investigate and develop their craft at the intersection of contemporary verse and theatre." The program is in its 5th season.

Film and television

In 2018, Casal and best friendDaveed Diggsreleased their movie,Blindspotting.The pair wrote, produced, and starred in the film, which uses verse to tell the story of the town ofOakland, California.Casal has also appeared in supporting roles inBad Education,The Good Lord Bird,and the second revival ofAre You Afraid of the Dark?Recently, Casal made a brief appearance in the Netflix documentary series,Amend: The Fight for America.

In 2020, it was confirmed thatBlindspottingwould be adapted as a comedy-dramaseries of the same name,with Casal serving as co-writer, director, executive producer, and showrunner, as well as reprising his role as Miles.The series was picked up byLionsgate Televisionand had its world premiere at theTribeca Film Festivalon June 11, 2021. It became available for streaming on June 13, 2021 on Starz andStarzPlay.In October 2021, it was announced that Starz had renewed the series for a second season. It premiered at SXSW in March 2023 and aired on Starz on April 14, 2023.Blindspotting was cancelled by Starz in September 2023.

Casal starred as X-5/Brad Wolfe in thesecond seasonof theMarvel Cinematic UniverseseriesLokiwhich 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	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