Rafael Casal

Rafael Casal is an American actor, writer, director, producer, rapper, and showrunner who was born in 1985 and grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, California. At 18 he appeared on three seasons of HBO's Def Poetry Jam and taught and performed across the country with YouthSpeaks. He later helped create a workshop called BARS at New York City's Public Theater, which blends verse with stage work, and collaborated with Daveed Diggs on music projects. Casal and Diggs wrote, produced, and starred in Blindspotting (2018), a film set in Oakland that uses verse to tell its story. He later reprised his role in the television adaptation and acted as its writer, director, executive producer, and showrunner. His other screen appearances include Bad Education (2019), The Good Lord Bird, a revival of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and the second season of Loki as X-5.