His notable written plays include Border Stories and Between Me, You, and the Lampshade. His works are associated with the LAByrinth Theater Company and the Atlantic Theater Company.
Raúl Castillo Jr. was born to Raúl H. Castillo Sr. and Adela "Adelita" Rodríguez de Castillo. He has an older brother, Tony, and a younger sister. His parents are Mexican emigrants from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, who later moved to McAllen, Texas, where he and his siblings were raised. His hometown of McAllen was 90 percent Mexican-American. Living so close to the Mexico–United States border, Castillo's family would often visit family members who still lived in Reynosa, affording him an upbringing that he describes as "very much bicultural." Castillo states that growing up in a border town made him feel American when he visited Mexico, but Mexican when he traveled around the United States. He explains he was "too American for Mexico, but too Mexican for the U.S." He was raised Catholic. His childhood nickname was "Gordo" ("fat", in Spanish), due to his weight.
He first became interested in acting in the third grade, after seeing his older brother in a school production of The Wizard of Oz as the Tin Woodman. His older brother played guitar and was a musician. His dedication was seen by Castillo when he would sit and play scales for hours, which inspired him to use the same technique for his own performance. He auditioned the next year for the school play "about a mouse and a clock", but could not stop giggling during his audition and was cast in a non-speaking role as a guard. While in 6th grade at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School, he met and befriended future Mutemath bass guitarist Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas. With their friends Nick Trevino and Robert Vleck, they started underground punk-rock band IPM (short for "Influential Phecal Material") in high school. Mitchell-Cárdenas played drums while Castillo played bass guitar. Before he began acting, he considered pursuing a career as a rock musician.

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