Rafael Rossel takes on the role of the devil in ABS-CBN’s latest Sineserye offering, “The Susan Roces Cinema Collection: Maligno”. In the upcoming horror series, the Filipino-Norwegian hunk will be Lucas Santander, the personification of the devil who would plant his seed in the womb of the character played by Claudine Barretto so the latter could bear the child who would be the anti-Christ.

Through the years, Rafael has been exposed to different roles which has helped him grow out of the matinee idol mould to become a seasoned actor. He has even won an acting award for his supporting role in the movie “Rome and Juliet”. But none of those roles compare to his role in this show as this is Rafael’s biggest role to date and his most difficult one at that. His character’s sinister persona makes it all the more challenging to portray. In one interview, he exclaims that taking on the character really scared him; however, as an actor, he has to do whatever role is given him.

This project would be the second time that he has worked with Claudine Barretto, the first one being the fantaserye, “Marina”. In “Maligno”, Rafael would also be sharing the limelight with Diether Ocampo, Kim Chiu, Gerald Anderson and a lot more. The series’ four-week run will, according to reports, commence on April 28, 2008 replacing either “Kung Fu Kids” or “Lovers” in ABS-CBN’s primetime bida block.