Emmanuel DeJesus was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. His mother is Puerto Rican and his father is Dominican. He attended Methuen High School in Methuen, Massachusetts and has lived in Florida and Hawaii. He developed an interest in acting after attending an open casting call for the movie
Battleship (2012) and later receiving a call back to go audition for a speaking role. Although he did not get the part, his experience in the audition room was a rush; subsequently empowering him to seek more projects and learn the craft of acting. Emmanuel has worked on several TV and Film productions, later to be cast on a feature film called
Camino (2015) where he landed his first speaking role. He would then be cast in the hit TV show
Hawaii Five-0 (2010) as Police Officer David Atowa.