Rafael Santiago Casal (born August 8, 1985) is an American writer, rapper, actor, producer, director, and show runner originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is also an online creator of music, poetry, web shorts, and political commentary. Early life Casal grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, California. He was expelled from Berkeley High School after two years and earned his diploma through an alternative independent study program. Casal is of Irish, Spanish, and Cuban descent. Career Poetry When he was 18, Casal appeared on 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 serving as creative director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's First Wave Spoken Word and Hip Hop Arts Learning Community while earning his degree at night. 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). In 2018, Casal and Diggs released the Collin and Miles EPs to accompany their film, Blindspotting. 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. Casal has also appeared in small 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. 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. In October 2021, it was announced that Starz had renewed the series for a second season. It is set to premiere at SXSW festival in March 2023 and will air on Starz on April 14th 2023. Filmography References 21st-century American male actors American people of Cuban