LOS ANGELES, California – He’s been acting since age six and is best known as the bad guy from Akeelah and the Bee, winning a CAMIE (Character and Morality in Entertainment) Award for his portrayal of the title character's rival.

Born and raised in Orange County, 24-year old Fil-Am Sean Michael Afable is now excited to be spending Valentines Day with his model girlfriend en route to the Philippines. 

It will be his first ever trip to his mother's homeland.

“It's going to be a great group, a lot of fun going with all of them and just experiencing for the first time with rest of the guys over there,” Afable said.

He will participate in a Bayani trip exploring his roots with YouTube star AJ Rafael, as well as YouTube star-turned- Ellen DeGeneres sensation Vincent Joseph and his Fil-Am model actress girlfriend Koko Laimana who walks runways for Filipino designer Furne One.

“The past few years has been experimenting and understanding trying to see what it means to be a Filipino. So being able to finally go to the Philippines and sort of experience the culture is really exciting,” said Laimana.

Afable won his CAMIE Award in 2006 and recently received rave reviews for his role as a troubled youth in the independent Christian drama film to Save a Life.

The former Disney star says he looks for projects that give him a chance to connect with audience in a positive way.

“I'm always looking for a redemptive value. It doesn't necessarily mean I play the good guy, the protagonist. In Akeelah and the Bee, I played kind of the antagonist role with Dylan Chu but at the same time I saw redemptive values in his character and redemptive value in the film overall. And acting or pretending or portraying these characters impacts me deeply,” he said.

After Afable and Laimana return from exploring their roots, it's back to showbiz. They'll both be working on independent projects.