Viva’s rising star Rabin Angeles admits there’s pressure in headlining a new series where he plays the lead. But it’s the kind of pressure he’s ready to take on.
After a breakout role as the red-haired Yuri Hanamichi in Ang Mutya ng Section E, the young actor now stars in Viva One’s upcoming adaptation of Mission Impossible: Seducing Drake Palma.
“This is a huge project,” Rabin tells Manila Standard Entertainment. “After Mutya, the pressure is there, but I’m all for it. I’m just thankful I was given the opportunity to work with a new team and a different cast.”
In the series, Rabin plays Drake Palma, an intelligent and aloof heartthrob from a wealthy family. He’s effortlessly smart—one of those who can sleep through class and still ace exams. Girls chase him, but he doesn’t bother to take them seriously. The story shifts when Alys, a determined and witty girl, makes Drake her personal mission.
It’s a role that Rabin says is far from who he is in real life. “Drake and I are polar opposites,” he says. “I’m playful, talkative. Drake is stoic and distant. So, it’s a challenge to portray someone who’s so different from me.”
“You will see a different Rabin here,” Rabin adds. “I am used to having many lines to memorize, but here, there’s not much. But the scenes are all loaded with emotion, it’s only your eyes that should be speaking.”
Though he hasn’t shot any scenes yet, he’s already working with his co-star (who will play Alys Perez, his love interest in the story) in acting workshops under Ana Feleo.
“We’re doing a workshop with Ms. Ana now, and I think we’re getting along,” Rabin says. “The chemistry is something we’re still working on, but it’s off to a good start.”
The adaptation is directed by Crisanto Aquino, who has earned multiple awards, including Best Director at the 2024 Metro Manila Film Festival and the 2020 Osaka Film Festival ABC Award.
For fans of the Wattpad hit, the pairing of Rabin’s rising profile and Aquino’s steady hand signals a serious attempt to bring the source material to life.
The series is based on a popular Wattpad novel by Ariesa Jane Domingo, known online as Beeyotch. The book has racked up more than 79 million reads on the platform, with Domingo’s brand of romance fiction already familiar to fans through titles like Dating Alys Perez and Good Girl Gone Bad. Domingo has 17 years of writing experience, and her online following helps explain the anticipation surrounding this new project.
“When I wrote Seducing Drake Palma on Wattpad in 2012-2013, I pictured Drake as a K-pop idol and Korean. Just seeing the photos Viva sent of Rabin, I thought, ‘That’s it.’ When I visited the set, I was even more convinced we made the right choice casting him as Drake Palma,” the author says enthusiastically.
