How Rafael immersed in new role

CEBU, Philippines - Going the extra mile, “The Borrowed Wife” lead actor Rafael Rosell took it upon himself to fully understand the father figure role in his current GMA-7 afternoon soap. While the 31-year-old has had a previous role as a father, it wasn’t as lengthy and emotional as in his current series. 

“It was challenging for me to imbibe being a father figure, because I’m still not a dad in real life,” said Rafael, who plays the husband of Camille Prats’ character. “So I asked help from my friends who are already dads. I also studied my own father and borrowed the pets of my friends, so I would know the emotions of caring and being responsible for someone that I own. I immersed myself in the experience, so that when I arrive on set, my character is not that big of a deal anymore.”

His off-cam efforts seemed to have done the trick, because Rafael said he is now fully comfortable in scenes with the child actor who plays his daughter in the controversial drama — so much so that he sometimes struggles to say goodbye to the kid when it’s time to go home.

“I’ve bonded with the kid. Sometimes, I don’t want to leave her anymore. She’s so cute and I can feel that she also loves me. It has gotten to the point where if I feel tired, I just look at the kid, and my exhaustion just melts away, and I don’t want to go home. She is so intelligent. I have much to learn from her, in terms of a kid’s perspective of life. Kids are so non-judgmental compared to an adult’s mentality,” shared Rafael.

The technique he employed to get into his role’s psyche is as far as he’ll go, said Rafael. Method acting — an acting technique in which the actor recalls emotions or reactions from his or her own life and uses them to identify with the character being portrayed — is something he had tried before but won’t recommend to other actors, because “it drove me even crazier.”

He adds, “It’s sometimes dangerous to become the character. For me, it’s better to just attack it the way you attack it.”

‘Normal is overrated’

The Fil-Norwegian star also talked about what keeps him busy these days when not on set. “Aside from working, I’ve been focusing on myself. I’ve been researching on various systems that might work for the people. I’m also researching on alternative cures and alternative ways of living for our population.  I’d like to come up with ideas that could possibly help people live better lives through alternative resources.”

What piqued Rafael’s interest to research on such matters? He explained, “I realized that there are a lot of people suffering, that there are a lot of people struggling to keep up with the monetary system. I figured maybe there’s a way we can fix things to make everything okay. Kumbaga, kabutihan para sa karamihan.”

So far, Rafael said his research led him to discover that “there are many alternative resources in the Philippines we can use that are not as costly, not pollutants to the environment, and that could benefit more people, instead of just benefiting those in the upper echelons.”

“Yes, I do get a lot of crazy or weird comments when they hear me talk about these things, but being normal is boring and overrated,” the actor said. “If everyone is just normal and the same, then what’s the point?”