(From left) Meryll Soriano, Chai Fonacier, Dennis Trillo, and Dolly de Leon. Image: Instagram/@dennistrillo
Dolly de Leon, Chai Fonacier, and Meryll Soriano are joining Dennis Trillo in the upcoming international series “Severino,” a biopic that tells the story of Severino Mallari, a Filipino priest who was documented as the first serial killer of the Philippines in the 1800s.
De Leon, Fonacier, and Soriano were revealed as the cast of the series on Trillo’s Instagram page on Sunday, Sept. 1, where they posed at a studio. The actor also posed with the series’ director Yam Laranas in a separate photo.
Trillo’s casting was announced at the Cannes Film Festival in France in May 2024 and is currently in development. CreaZion Studios, the production company behind the series, earlier disclosed that the series will be helmed for international distribution. According to a report from Variety in the same month, de Leon is said to star as Trillo’s onscreen mother.
In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, CreaZion Studios’ senior head of creatives Jon Verzosa remained mum about the details of the series but shared that the actor has been committed in every stage of its production.
“We’re very excited with the project… We cannot get into the details just yet, but we can say that a streaming platform has already acquired the rights to show it,” he said.
Verzosa also clarified in the interview that the series is different from the Metro Manila Film Festival 2023 entry “Mallari” starring Piolo Pascual, which followed a fantasy approach to the story of the serial killer priest.