Enchong Dee Filipino Actor Born in 1988

Early life

Enchong Dee was born on 5 November 1988 in Naga, Camarines Sur, in the Philippines. Before acting, he was a competitive swimmer and became a member of the Philippine national swimming team as a teenager. He represented the country at the 2005 and 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Manila and Nakhon Ratchasima, at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, and at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, which was his final competition. He finished sixth in his debut at the 2005 games and second in Doha.

He finished high school at Naga Hope Christian School in 2005 and went on to De La Salle University in Manila, graduating in 2009 with a degree in political science. As a university swimmer he won seven gold medals at the UAAP swimming championship.

Career

Dee made his first television appearance in 2006 and soon began getting acting roles. In 2008 he played Nico Legaspi in the series My Girl, an adaptation of a South Korean drama, and became a regular on the Sunday variety show ASAP. His breakthrough came in 2009 with the television drama Katorse, in which he played Jojo Wenceslao opposite Erich Gonzales. The pair later appeared together in the independent film Paano Ko Sasabihin?, for which they learned sign language.

In 2010 he appeared in the Star Cinema film Sa 'yo Lamang and in I Do, his first leading role in a major film. His first Metro Manila Film Festival entry was The Strangers in 2012, where he played Dolfo alongside Julia Montes and Enrique Gil. The same year he was in the teen comedy The Reunion, and from 2012 to 2013 he played Ethan in the series Ina, Kapatid, Anak. In 2013 he starred as CJ Salazar in the comedy-drama Four Sisters and a Wedding, and returned to television with Muling Buksan Ang Puso.

In 2014 he appeared as Leonard Jamieson in Once a Princess and released a self-titled debut album under Star Music. Its first single, "Chinito Problems", answered a 2013 hit song by Yeng Constantino. A second album, EDM (Enchong Dee Moves), followed after the first reached platinum status. In 2015 he took part in Pinoy Big Brother as a housemate and then as one of the hosts of its 737 edition, and gave his first major two-night concert at the Music Museum in Greenhills.

Later film roles included the psychological horror film Lila in 2016, Mano Po 7: Chinoy, the horror film Nay in 2017 and Elise in 2019. During the pandemic he appeared in the Netflix film Alter Me and in Four Sisters Before the Wedding, a 2020 film that serves as both prequel and sequel to his earlier hit. In 2022 he was in the television series Darna and the film Partners in Crime.

2023 was a busy year. He played a Chinese fisherman in The Fisher, which was nominated at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and took lead roles in two Metro Manila Film Festival entries: the comedy Here Comes the Groom and GomBurZa, in which he portrayed Padre Jacinto Zamora. He also appeared in Topakk. In 2025 he joined the Philippine adaptation of the Korean drama It's Okay Not to Be Okay, and his first international film, Elsewhere at Night, premiered at the Festival du nouveau cinéma on 16 October 2025.

Public roles

Dee is a contract artist of ABS-CBN's Star Magic. He has been a host of several editions of Pinoy Big Brother, including the Connect edition from 2020 to 2021 and the Gen 11 edition in 2024, and he returned as a host for two Celebrity Collab editions in 2025. That year he also spoke at a TEDx event at Miriam College High School about education and self-determination.

Outside entertainment, he took part in the 2019 Osaka Marathon and in Ironman 70.3 events in Cebu in 2017 and 2018. In 2019 he was part of a Guinness World Records attempt for the largest swimming lesson, given to 1,819 children. He also owns restaurant branches and invested in a shrimp farm and, with actor Joshua Garcia, a music school.