By ABS-CBNnews.com and U.S. News Agency / Asian

Panganiban’s characters in the upcoming series will play a vital part in resolving the conflicts of the show’s plot, according to her leading man, actor Piolo Pascual.

“The story’s so rich, ang daming sanga, ang daming mangyayari sa story. But, of course, ang essential part of the story will be Angelica — who’s playing a dual role,” Pascual told ABS-CBN News on Thursday.

“Siya ‘yung magtatagpi-tagpi lahat nung connections ng bawat character, and all of us are correlated and would have to co-exist with her para ma-solve niya ‘yung conflicts sa buhay niya,” Pascual added.

For her part, Panganiban is elated to be part of “Apoy,” which is seen as the next big project of ABS-CBN.

“Parang hindi ako makapaniwala na parang part ako ng isang sobrang laking project. Tapos grabe ‘yung mga makakatrabaho ko, makakasama ko, hindi lang mga artista kundi ‘yung mga bumubuo ng buong proyekto,” she said.

“Ang sarap, ang saya, sobrang heaven yung pakiramdam,” she added.

‘Good’ and ‘bad’ Angelica?

Panganiban is known for disparate portrayals on-screen — she played the feisty “bida-kontrabida” in “Rubi” and recently portrayed the submissive Mariela in the horror film “Segunda Mano” — but the young actress said she still sees as challenging her dual role in the upcoming soap.

“Sobrang challenging dahil dalawang character ‘yung gagampanan ko. Doon pa lang kaabang-abang na siya,” Panganiban said.

A prominent aspect of the series is also its setting — which will mostly take place at sea.

“Basically kasi nasa dagat kami, so doon pa lang given na siya,” Panganiban said, asked if the show will have her and Pascual bare more skin.

Joining Panganiban and Pascual in the cast of “Apoy sa Dagat” are Diether Ocampo, Angel Aquino, Liza Lorena and Sylvia Sanchez.

According to Pascual, filming for the series will start next week, in time for its primetime debut later this year.