With how young-looking he is, it’s probably difficult to believe that Enchong Dee has been in show business for two decades already. And throughout the past 20 years, he’s been able to showcase his talents and prove his versatility as an artist via his appearances in various television shows and movies, with the newest ABS-CBN Studios offering “It’s Okay To Not Be Okay” being his latest project.
The talented heartthrob guested in Kapamilya Chat wherein he talked about his role as the hands-on literary agent and publishing house CEO Vincent Romulo in “It’s Okay To Not Be Okay” and played three games specially prepared for him, which included the “Look at DEEs Challenge”.
In this game, he had to guess from which teleseryes the screen-grabbed images of him that were shown by the Kapamilya Chat team came from, as well as share little trivia about his experiences in each. And he indeed did a terrific job, for he was able to answer each item accurately.
The first photo was of his character Jojo Wenceslao from the 2009 series “Katorse,” in which he was paired with Erich Gonzales. As he poked fun at what he was wearing in that picture, he recalled how production units back then used to not have budgets for wardrobes and stylists, so he and his co-actors had to bring their own clothes to the set. Thus, they can only provide whatever they got.
Just one look at how he dressed up in the second photo, and Enchong easily remembered that it was his character Nico Legaspi from the 2008 romantic comedy series “My Girl,” starring Kim Chiu. He related, “Naalala ko ‘to kasi no’ng time na ‘yon, it was also a Philippine adaptation of the Korean series ‘My Girl’. Tapos talagang pinipilit nila na dapat magmukha tayong mga Koreano.”
The third one was from the 2012 primetime series “Ina, Kapatid, Anak,” in which he portrayed the role of Ethan Castillo. While other actors put on makeup in order to improve their appearances on camera, Enchong confessed that he’s actually not keen to do so, as he simply changes his hairstyle to make one character different from the previous ones that he had done. According to him, it’s a part of his process as an actor because he has noticed how the clothes and hair that he wears can affect the way he moves or acts in relation to his character.
As he pointed out his long sleeved shirt, belt, and tuck-in in the fourth photo, it was easy for him to tell that the photo was of his “Maria La del Barrio” character Luis Fernando Dela Vega.
When asked for a backstory regarding his experience on the 2011 Philippine remake of the 1995 Mexican drama of the same title, Enchong imparted, “It was kind of hard for me because they were really trying to push for a mature, older version of Enchong Dee during that time. But the hardest part is I look like a kid. Ang laki-laki ng pisngi ko nang time na ‘yon tapos ang nipis-nipis ko pa, so parang ang payat-payat ko.”
He continued, “I really tried to be Luis Fernando Dela Vega as much as possible. So, lahat ng pwede kong gawin to make me look older ginawa ko ‘yon—tuck-in, ayos ng buhok, belt. Naalala ko lang all of a sudden, but it was a fun series.”
The final image shown to him was from the promo shoot of the iconic Kapamilya series “Magkaribal,” in which he was seen wearing a classy suit. With how debonair he looked in that shot, it was easy for Enchong to figure out that it was his character Caloy Javier from the said teleserye, which narrative was centered on fashion. Besides, he was also co-starring with some of the most fashionable and gorgeous actresses in the industry, so he really had to look nice most of the time.
Were you able to see these teleserye personas of Enchong, Kapamilya? Well, you got to see him in a totally different light as Boss V in “It’s Okay To Not Be Okay,” weeknights on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), A2Z, and TV5. You may also watch episodes in advance on iWant.