Rafael Casal

Last updated
Rafael Casal
Born
Rafael Santiago Casal

(1985-08-08) August 8, 1985 (age 38)
Berkeley, California
Education Berkeley High School
Occupations
  • Actor
  • poet
  • writer
  • producer
  • showrunner
Years active2008–present

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

Contents

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 attended 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

When he was 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 under the Getback Productions crew the pair co-founded with Chinaka Hodge. Casal has also released several solo 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." The program is in its 5th season.

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

In 2020, it was confirmed that Blindspotting would be 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. [8] The series was picked up by Lionsgate Television and had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 11, 2021. It became available for streaming on June 13, 2021 on Starz and StarzPlay.[ citation needed ] 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. [9] Blindspotting was cancelled by Starz in September 2023.

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

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2008The Break UpBoyShort; also writer
2010Ricochet in Reverse Dylan Klebold Short
2014The Away TeamCalWeb series; also creator, producer, director
2014Mali Music: BeautifulProducer; TV Movie
2018 Blindspotting MilesAlso co-producer, co-writer
2018Rachel Dratch's Late Night SnackElliotSeason 2 Episode 7
2019StuccoThrone - Crowning ArmShort
2019 Bad Education [11] Kyle Contreras
2019 Are You Afraid of the Dark? Mr. Top HatMiniseries
2020 The Good Lord Bird General John Cook Miniseries
2021 Blindspotting MilesAlso executive producer, director, and writer
2023 Loki Hunter X-5 / Brad WolfeSeason 2
2023 Wildcat O.E. Parker

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richie Rich (rapper)</span> American rapper

Richard Serrell, better known by his stage name Richie Rich, is a rapper from Oakland, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven S. DeKnight</span> American screenwriter

Steven S. DeKnight is an American filmmaker. He is best known for being the creator, head writer, and executive producer of the Starz series Spartacus, including Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Spartacus: Vengeance, and Spartacus: War of the Damned, as well as developing Jupiter's Legacy for Netflix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Watsky</span> American rapper, singer and poet

George Virden Watsky is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, poet, author, and illustrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Gerson Saines</span> American talent manager

Emily Gerson Saines is an American talent manager and producer.

Carlos López Estrada is a Mexican-American filmmaker, music video director, commercial director, theatre director, and actor. Born in Mexico, he moved to the United States when he was 12 and later enrolled at Chapman University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daveed Diggs</span> American actor and rapper

Daveed Daniele Diggs is an American actor, rapper, and singer-songwriter. He is the vocalist of the experimental hip hop group Clipping, and in 2015, he originated the dual roles of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the musical Hamilton, for which he won a 2016 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical. Along with the main cast of Hamilton, he was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinaka Hodge</span> American poet, educator, playwright, and screenwriter

Chinaka Hodge is an American poet, educator, playwright and screenwriter. She has received national recognition for her publications, especially her artistic work on gentrification.

<i>Small Things to a Giant</i> 2012 studio album by Daveed Diggs

Small Things to a Giant is the debut studio album of rapper and actor Daveed Diggs.

<i>Blindspotting</i> 2018 American comedy-drama film

Blindspotting is a 2018 American comedy-drama film written and produced by Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal.The film is directed by Carlos López Estrada, and Diggs and Casal star alongside Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Ethan Embry, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Wayne Knight. The plot follows a parolee with three days left on his sentence, only to have him witness a police shooting that threatens to ruin a lifelong friendship.

Central Park is an American musical animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard, Nora Smith and Josh Gad for Apple TV+, using the same art style as Bouchard's previous series Bob's Burgers. The series premiered on May 29, 2020, and revolves around a family living in Central Park in New York City who must save it from a greedy land developer.

<i>Loki</i> (TV series) 2021 Marvel Studios television series

Loki is an American television series created by Michael Waldron for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name. It is the third television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by Marvel Studios, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The series takes place after the events of the film Avengers: Endgame (2019), in which an alternate version of Loki created a new timeline. Waldron served as head writer and Kate Herron directed the first season, with Eric Martin and the duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead serving as head writer and leading the directing team for the second season, respectively.

Jaylen Barron is an American actress, known for her roles as Dominique Winslow in the Showtime series Shameless and Zoe Phillips in the Netflix drama series Free Rein. In 2021, she began starring in the Starz series Blindspotting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmy Raver-Lampman</span> American actress, singer (b. 1988)

Emmy Raver-Lampman is an American actress and singer. She began her career working in musical theater, and has performed in various Broadway and national touring productions such as Hair, Jekyll & Hyde, Wicked, and Hamilton. She has played Allison Hargreeves in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mader</span> Drummer

John Andrew Mader is an American drummer who has performed and recorded with such successful acts as Pat Benatar, Steve Miller, Josh Groban, Bonnie Raitt, Booker T. Jones, the Family Stone, Gregg Allman, Joe Satriani, Patti Austin, and Billy Sheehan among others. He has also played drums on such hit musicals as Rent, Wicked, Mamma Mia!, The Lion King, and Hamilton.

<i>The Good Lord Bird</i> (miniseries) 2020 miniseries by Ethan Hawke

The Good Lord Bird is a 2020 American historical drama television miniseries, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by James McBride. Focusing on John Brown's attack on American slavery, the series was created and executive produced by Ethan Hawke and Mark Richard. Produced by Jason Blum, through Blumhouse Television, it premiered on October 4, 2020, on Showtime.

Michael Waldron is an American screenwriter and producer known for his work on television series Rick and Morty and Heels, creating the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Loki, and writing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).

<i>Loki</i> season 2 Season of television series

The second season of the American television series Loki, based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name, sees Loki working with Mobius M. Mobius, Hunter B-15, and other members of the Time Variance Authority (TVA) to navigate the multiverse in order to find Sylvie, Ravonna Renslayer, and Miss Minutes. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The season is produced by Marvel Studios, with Eric Martin serving as head writer and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead leading the directing team.

<i>Blindspotting</i> (TV series) American comedy-drama television series

Blindspotting is an American comedy-drama television series and a spin-off sequel of the 2018 film of the same name. Set six months after the events of the film, the series follows Ashley after Miles, her boyfriend and father of their son, is suddenly incarcerated, forcing her to move in with Miles' mother and half-sister. It co-stars Jaylen Barron, Candace Nicholas-Lippman, Benjamin Earl Turner, and Atticus Woodward.

This is a list of the annual winners of the Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance.

References

  1. ↑ Barnes, Brooks (11 July 2018). "Oakland in their bones, and in their films". NY Times. p. 6. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.