Enrique Gil Biography

Gil was born on March 30, 1992, in Cebu City, Philippines, to Enrique Amadeo Gil III and Barbara Anne Bacay. He is of mixed descent as his father was Spanish and his mother is of Filipino, German, and Spanish lineage. His father died of cancer in 2008. He is the second of the three children. He has an older brother, Enrique Javier (Javy), and a younger sister, Diandra Frances (Andie). His parents worked for the ‘Philippine Airlines’ as flight attendants.

He completed his primary schooling at the ‘Montessori De Manila’ in the BF Executive Village in Las Piñas and attended secondary school at ‘Manresa School’ in Parañaque. Gil completed his schooling in 2008 and joined ‘San Beda College,’ Alabang, to study Information Technology. However, he dropped out to pursue his dream of a career in acting. He is related to Filipino entertainment personalities Paul Salas and Dingdong Dantes.

Along with his busy career, Gil is presently pursuing Business Management studies under the ‘Pearson HND Programme,’ leading to a Top-up degree with ‘De Montfort University,’ UK.

In the summer of 2008, Gil joined ‘Trumpets,’ an institute for commercial modeling and musical theater workshops. He initially received assignments for modeling in TV commercials. He was noticed in his ‘Lewis & Pearl’s’ ad with actor Coleen Garcia. He also appeared as one of the eco-models in the drama series, ‘I Love Betty La Fea.’ The ‘ABS-CBN’ channel offered him to attend workshops under their management. Later, he got to play the role of ‘Harold’ in the ‘ABS-CBN’s’ action-drama series, ‘Pieta’ (2008 - 2009).

During this period, his mother persuaded Gil to audition for the sitcom, ‘George and Cecil,’ and he was immediately signed on for the series. Later, he portrayed the role of the brother of the lead actor, Kristel Moreno, in an indie film, ‘Pitas’ (2010).

Next, he worked in a war film, ‘Diego and His Brothers,’ in 2010. Gil appeared as one of the ‘Star Magic’s’ dancing talents, ‘Gigger Boys,’ in the ‘ABS-CBN’s’ long-running TV musical show, ASAP (All-star Sunday Afternoon Party). In May 2010, he essayed the role of ‘Andrew’ in the television series, ‘Rosalka.’ He starred in the film, ‘Till My Heartaches End,’ as Joco, the younger brother of actor Gerald Anderson. He got a chance to host the ‘ABS-CBN’s’ 2010 musical reality-variety show, ‘Shoutout!’

Gil received an important break in the 2011 remake of ‘Mula Sa Puso,’ where he portrayed the role of ‘Michael Miranda’ (originally played by Diether Ocampo). In the 2011 teen dance-musical drama ‘Good Vibes,’ he essayed the part of ‘Troy Cabrera.’ He worked with debutants Kathryn Bernardo and Julia Montes in the Star Cinema’s 2011 release, ‘Way Back Home.’ He appeared as ‘BJ Maniego’ in the 2011’s TV drama series ‘Budoy.’

In the 2012 teen TV drama, ‘Princess and I,’ Gil co-starred with Kathryn Bernardo in the role of ‘Dasho Jao Rinpoche.’ In the same year, he also starred in the teen romantic-comedy film, ‘The Reunion’ and a horror-drama film, ‘Amorosa,’ his first horror film. He worked in another horror-adventure movie, ‘The Strangers,’ which was one of the official entries for the ‘38th Metro Manila Film Festival.’

In 2013, he appeared in a music video, ‘Mr. Kupido,’ by Myrtle Sarrosa. Gil essayed the role of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on the Philippine TV’s longest-running drama anthology, ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya.’ His next project was the series, ‘Muling Buksan Ang Puso,’ co-starring Julia Montes and Enchong Dee. The film, ‘She’s the One,’ (2013) is considered his breakthrough movie as an actor, wherein he shares the screen with Bea Alonzo and Dingdong Dantes.

‘King of the Gil,’ his debut dance album, was released in July 2013 under ‘Star Records.’ Gil’s dance concert at the ‘Smart-Araneta Coliseum’ was also a great success. Many from the Philippines entertainment industry appeared as guests at his concert.

Gil co-starred with debutant Julia Barretto in the 2014 drama fantasy TV series, ‘Mirabella.’ He released his single, ‘Do the Moves’ (with Sarah Geronimo and apl.de.ap) on March 1, and its music video on March 8, 2014. In June 2014, he was cast with Liza Soberano in the Star Cinema’s ‘The Bet,’ a film based on Kimberley Joy Villanueva’s novel. Later, the film was renamed ‘Just the Way You Are’ and was released in June 2015; it became a big commercial success.

His lead role in his next project, the romantic-drama TV series ‘Forevermore’ (2014) brought him a lot of accolades. Here Gil plays Alexander ‘Xander’ Grande III, a rebellious heir to Maria Agnes Calay (Liza Soberano). This series was hugely appreciated and thus their pair was repeated in more romantic projects.

His next venture was a romantic film, ‘Everyday I Love You,’ with Liza Soberano, and Gerald Anderson was the third angle of the love story. In February 2016, Gil and Soberano were cast in another romantic drama, ‘Dolce Amore,’ which was broadcast on primetime TV. Here he essayed a poor, painstaking boy, ‘Simon Vicente ‘TenTen’ Ibarra,’ from Manila.

Gil starred in a challenging lead role in the 2016 action movie, ‘Dukot,’ which was based on a real-life kidnapping incident. His next romantic-comedy movie, ‘My Ex and Whys,’ which was released in February 2017, became a great success netting ₱ 31.5 million on the first day. This film, too, starred the successful pair of Gil and Soberano. The following year, he portrayed ‘Lakas’ in the ABS-CBN’s fantasy TV series ‘Bagani.’

In 2019, he starred as ‘Rafael "Raf" Toledo’ in the romantic drama film ‘Alone/Together’ written and directed by Antoinette Jadaone. The film received a mixed response from critics but grossed over ₱370 million at the box office. That same year, he also made a cameo appearance in the musical fantasy comedy film ‘The Mall, the Merrier!’ The film did impressive business at the box office, grossing over ₱322 million on a ₱23 million.

He portrayed ‘Atty. Gabriel "Gabo" Villarica’ in the 2020 romantic comedy-drama television series ‘Make It with You’ created by Henry King Quitain.

On May 18, 2014, he received the ‘Most Promising Male Star of the Year’ award at the ‘45th Box Office Entertainment Awards of GMMSF.’ He also earned various awards from ‘GMMS Foundation’ during 2016-2018. In 2016, he won 3 RAWR awards for ‘Favorite Actor of the Year,’ and shared ‘Popular Love-Team’ and ‘Fan Club of the Year’ awards with Soberano. Gil has won many other awards, including ‘Yahoo! OMG! award,’ ‘Push Awards,’ and ‘Alta Media Icon Awards,’ among others.

In 2010-2011, Gil dated actor Coleen Garcia, his co-star in ‘Good Vibes.’ Presently, he is in a romantic relationship with Liza Soberano.

Gil is a member of PETA and actively participated in the 2013’s ‘Free Mali’ campaign, which was organized to help transfer the captive elephant ‘Mali’ from Manila Zoo to ‘Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary’ in Thailand.