Blindspotting (in cinemas 5th October), sees a black man, Collin, trying to make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning in his hometown of Oakland, California. After witnessing a police officer shoot a suspect in the back during a chase through the streets, Collin’s relationship with his volatile best friend, Miles, as Collin finds himself trying to stay out of trouble for a fresh start. The relatively unknown cast deliver standout performances with Daveed Diggs (of Hamilton fame) paving the way. To celebrate the upcoming release, we’re looking at who these up-and-coming talents are.
Daveed Diggs
Co-writer Daveed Diggs shot to stardom in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s multi award-winning musical production Hamilton. As part of the original Broadway cast, Diggs won a Tony award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his dual role as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton.
The biracial rapper who set a Broadway record for rapping 19 words in 3 seconds has gone on to star in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Wonder, Ferdinand & Black-ish.
Rafael Casal
While relatively unknown, Casal has been Diggs’ long-time creative partner. Having grown up in Oakland, the white-Hispanic spoken-word artist first met Diggs at a poetry event at Berkeley High School and from there the pair quickly formed a working relationship. Casal spent the better part of a decade co-writing Blindspotting.
In addition to his big screen debut, Casal appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry.
Janina Gavankar
Janina has a long list of TV credits including True Blood, Sleepy Hollow and The League. She majored in Theatre Performance at the University of Illinois in Chicago and is a trained pianist, vocalist and orchestral percussionist. In addition to her TV credits, she’s also voiced several characters in gaming including Star Wars: Battlefront II.
Jasmine Cephas Jones
The American stage actress is best known for the dual roles of Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds in the original Broadway production of Hamilton. She won a Grammy Award in 2016 for her work as one of the principal soloists on the cast album. The daughter of actor Ron Cephas Jones, she has carved her own career with multiple appearances in independent films including Titus & Fairfield.
Blindspotting is in cinemas from 5th October.
