Recently Freeform (previously ABC Family) premiered it's new series Shadowhunters, based on characters from the book series The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. The series follows Clary Fray (Katherine McNamara), who discovers that she is part of a long line of half-human half-angel demon hunters called Shadowhunters. She, along with her mundane, or human, friend, Simon Lewis, played by Alberto Rosende, are pulled into this new and dangerous world.

Recently, Rosende talked to Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision in an exclusive interview about his work on the series.

The actor became a fan of The Mortal Instruments book series after having started reading them for his audition. "I originally intended only to read the first one before the audition to kind of understand who Simon was in the world, but a funny thing happened; my audition got pushed a week back. So I had an extra week, and I'd already finished the first book, so I decided to keep reading, and then I finished the second one. So by the time I got to the audition, I was already half way through the third book. I just kept burning through them after that. I finished them about four episodes into the show; I finished all six."

He has not yet, however, read Shadowhunters Academy, in which Simon is the lead, but he plans to. "I'm waiting. After my birthday, I'm going to reread all six, and then I'm going to go straight through Shadowhunters Academy and all that. I'm very excited to read the rest."

As a fan, Rosende was excited to get to film Simon's reaction to seeing the local Shadowhunters headquarters, the Institute, for the first time. "I know the one scene that I was very excited for was the first time that Simon was going to see the Institute. Because for me, that was the first scene that was from the books that I was excited to see, first of all, how the institute looked, because at the time I got on set I wasn't sure yet, and second, I knew that Simon had a bunch of mixed emotions about it.

"I know he was very excited, but he was also very afraid and didn't understand. But then seeing this beautiful Institute come out of this church that he didn't know at all was going to be there, it was both fascinating and exciting, but also extremely scary, and kind of grounding. He's like, "Oh my gosh this world kind of exists that I didn't know about. What is this world about?""

The actor himself was in awe of the Institute set. "Honestly, I was blown away, because the attention to detail was fantastic. I mean, when you see the Institute more and more, you'll see Shadowhunters walking around, which is really cool to see, because I got to see other Shadowhunters that I didn't know were there. There are runes even etched into the floor and runes imprinted everywhere. I mean, they took so much time to make this institute come to life.

"And then, as a book fan, to see the Institute like that all lit up with Shadowhunters walking around, and to take it in like that as a mundane, was just truly fascinating. It was really cool to see something that I've seen come alive in the books really come alive in real life - something physical, something tangible, something I could touch. It blew me away...It's very cool, it's very cool."

At the end of last week's episode, Simon was kidnapped by a vampire. Tonight he will be introduced to the Downworlders, who are part human and part demon, and to the character of Camille Belcourt (Kaitlyn Leeb). While somethings stay the same, the series is veering away from the timeline of the books, as Camille doesn't appear until book three. "They're definitely bringing in elements from other books to kind of to make our season and our story, our journey, a little bit new and different. In the coming episode for the 26th, episode three, Simon's definitely going to get his first taste, his first real taste, into the Shadow World and into the Downworld. He's going to have that first experience that really anchors him to the Shadow World and has him understand that this world is very real, and the danger it possesses is very real also. And the experience he has is definitely going to stick with him for the rest of the series. It's almost traumatizing, so to speak, for him."

This will bring some action scenes and stunt work for Rosende. "He gets kidnapped and hung upside-down quite a bit. (laughs) It seems to be his MO, but he definitely gets more and more in the Shadow World, and because of that, his stunts become bigger, and he's definitely thrown into that world more."

One of fans' favorite relationships in the series is between Simon and Isabelle (Emeraude Toubia). "Like in the books, Simon and Isabelle's relationship is a slow burn, because I think one of the greatest things about that relationship, is that they had to grow into the people that were right for each other. You know, that's what I loved about that relationship in the books, is that it tells you that people are right for each other, but it's when they get to a certain point. They both, you know, have to learn first sometimes, and I feel like we do that well. But it always starts from somewhere, and you see that in episode two, that first time that Simon sees Isabelle, there's kind of a spark, a big one, and then as they get deeper and deeper into the world, their trust and their understanding of each other, it keeps growing."

Rosende and Toubia have great chemistry on the show. They got along well from the beginning. "She and I were actually in the audition room at the same time when we auditioned in LA together. It's been cool, because also she's lived in Miami, and I'm from Miami, so we had a bunch of things in common. We both speak Spanish. It's been really cool.

"And when we were on set I purposefully tried not to talk to her too much, so that when Simon was meeting Isabelle for the first time, it really was his first impression, and it really was his first time meeting her. I wanted to keep that very true and very organic.

"And I think everything you see on screen is very much organic, and it's very much not really rehearsed. It's very much us meeting for the first time, us experiencing what it would be like to be with each other in the room for the first time. And I think there's definitely cool chemistry and cool things ahead."

Shadowhunters has had a huge fan base from the beginning because of the book series. Rosende has gotten a lot of attention from the show, but he remains humble. "You know, I've been hearing that it's going to change more and more, and to be honest, it's stayed relatively, but [not quite] the same, because I love that the show is growing, and I've seen my social media account growing. I mean, it's been amazing, and the support that we're getting, and the excitement for the next episode, and the excitement for the show, it's been truly amazing, just to speak frankly.

"But also, I love how mundane my life has remained at the same time, because I think that kind speaks to the show, these supernatural amazing things can happen, but at the same time they're still living life.

"So I still walk to the corner store every day and get coffee. I still do the things that a New Yorker does, but it's cool to know that people are watching the show and people are excited to see what happens.

"And I guess at this point, I get to sit back and be a fan with them, because I haven't seen the next episodes, so I get to really take a passenger seat to the journey now, whereas before I was one of the drivers. So it's cool. I guess I've kind of joined my place with the fans."

Be sure to catch Alberto Rosende tonight in an all-new episode of Shadowhunters on Freeform.