Rachel Alejandro stars in her 1st ABS-CBN teleserye

Rachel Alejandro is back. But not for a musical or concert (yet). This time, she’s getting ready to transform into a socialite trophy wife in ABS-CBN’s upcoming series The Broken Marriage Vow.

A few months ago, Rachel was in New York — where her journalist husband is based — when she received an offer from Deo Endrinal’s Dreamscape Entertainment to join the Filipino adaptation of the hit BBC series Doctor Foster/The World of the Married (Korean adaptation).

“The very same day, my husband and I started binge-watching the show, and we were hooked from the first episode. We couldn’t believe how riveting it was,” she says. “In the end, that was what convinced me to accept the offer, even if in the past I’ve not been inclined to seek work as a teleserye regular.”

Indeed, Rachel is better known as a singer than as an actress, especially on TV.

“I know my way around the stage and have done a few films in the recent years, although I admit I’m a little nervous about TV acting because I haven’t done it for some time, unlike some of my teleserye veteran actor cast mates,” she says. “But I’m up for the challenge, especially now that it seems live concerts may not return soon here in the Philippines.”

Rachel will give life to the character of Nathalia Lucero, the mother of Lexy Lucero, to be played by Sue Ramirez. Nathalia was an aspiring beauty queen before she met and fell in love at a very young age with husband Fred (Art Acuña). Viewers will be delighted to know that Rachel will make Nathalia a well-rounded character — someone people will love and empathize with as she navigates being a mother to Lexy, who is in a secret affair with David Ilustre (played by Zanjoe Marudo).

“Nathalia is charismatic, funny and used to getting her way because she easily charms people,” Rachel says. “She sometimes bumps heads with Lexy but she is nonetheless a caring and protective mother. Mother and daughter bond over shopping.”

To become Nathalia, Rachel is eager to apply what she’s learned from her acting classes in the US, particularly a Scene Study course she took at the Stella Adler School, along with Master Class video acting courses by Helen Mirren, Natalie Portman and Samuel L. Jackson.

“When it comes to building believable characters, one of the best critiques I’ve heard from an instructor is that I am the type of actor that always shows up extremely prepared because I like to get things exactly right. That’s a good thing but that won’t necessarily wow an audience or make you ace an audition,” she says.

“He told me not to be afraid to explore, make mistakes, even make a fool of myself if I had to, because if you’re playing it too safe, you’re probably not going to be very memorable. So basically, go big or go home!”

For Rachel, part of going big means changing her looks for the part, for instance by going blonde: “It’s relevant to the story,” she says. “Since the character I’m playing is very fashion-forward and figure conscious, I eat low-carb meals from my health food business, The Sexy Chef. It will be so much fun to dress up as Nathalia because as direk Connie (Macatuno) envisions her, parang lagi siyang nakabihis for an event. Come to think of it, that sounds a lot like my mom, Myrna!”

And even more importantly, it’ll make her Lola proud.

“My biggest inspiration is my Lola Nena, who raised me,” Rachel reveals. “My grandmother loves ABS-CBN’s teleseryes, probably more than any concert or musical. I think she would really get a kick out of finally seeing me in one of them.”

Aside from shooting The Broken Marriage Vow, Rachel’s schedule is filling up as she will be recording a full album tentatively set to be released in September. Stay tuned for details!

“Singing is still my first love, after all,” she says.