French
DeutschRafael Casal
Rafael Casal | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rafael Santiago Casal August 8, 1985 Berkeley, California |
| Education | Berkeley High School |
| Occupations |
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| 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.
Early life
[edit]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]
Career
[edit]Poetry
[edit]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.
Music
[edit]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]
Theater
[edit]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.
Film and television
[edit]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.
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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” |
References
[edit]- ^ "The Def Poetry of Rafael Casal". East Bay Express | Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda. 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ Danzig, Christopher (10 November 2010). "The Def Poetry of Rafael Casal". East Bay Express. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
- ^ Betancourt, Manuel. "Rafael Casal on Creating a Complex Portrait of Oakland's Race & Class Dynamics in 'Blindspotting'". Remezcla. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
- ^ "RAFAEL CASAL". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ "Blindspotting: The Miles EP by Rafael Casal". Genius. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ "Bars Workshop".
- ^ 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.
- ^ Otterson, Joe (September 10, 2020). "'Blindspotting' Series Starring Jasmine Cephas Jones Gets Greenlight at Starz". Variety. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ "Starz Releases Lineup for 2023".
- ^ "Blindspotting cancelled by Starz".
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2022-07-15). "'Loki': Rafael Casal Joins Season 2 Of Marvel Series For Disney+". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
- ^ "Rafael Casal". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
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