MANILA — Janella Salvador looks both fierce and sultry as she channels her villainess character Valentina as the cover star of fashion magazine Metro.

Salvador, 24, portrays the snake-haired nemesis of the title character in “Mars Ravelo’s Darna,” the ongoing ABS-CBN adaptation of the pop culture icon.

The actress’ high-fashion turn as the serpent queen on Metro was unveiled Tuesday, in the lead-up to her first appearance in full form as Valentina in the primetime series.

In “Mars Ravelo’s Darna,” Salvador has so far only been seen as Regina Vanguardia, a lawyer-vlogger who uses her platform to expose corruption in government and to advocate for social justice.

But as Valentina, in Salvador’s words on Tuesday, she will “serve big, big trouble.”

“She’s actually a very, very complex character to play,” Salvador told Metro.Style. “She has a lot of emotions. Ang dami niyang pinagdaanan. She’s a very difficult character to play. As much as I’m having fun portraying her, mahirap siyang i-portray kasi ang daming layers. Pinag-aralan ko talaga ’yan.”

“I actually changed her voice. Gusto ko maiba talaga si Valentina kay Regina, so I did a lot of physical changes. Iniba ko ’yung voice ko, even the look is super far from Regina. I don’t know if meron kaming similarities; lumalabas si Valentina kasi ’pag sobrang galit si Regina,” she teased.

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• WATCH: Janella Salvador channels Valentina, brings snake on red carpet

Prior to Salvador’s Valentina pictorial for Metro, the magazine also featured lead actress Jane de Leon’s transformation as Darna.

Helmed by acclaimed filmmaker Chito S. Roño with Avel Sunpongco and Benedict Mique, “Mars Ravelo’s Darna” airs weeknights on TV5, A2Z, Kapamilya Channel, CineMo, Kapamilya Online Live, iWantTFC, and TFC.

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