Chen's first appearance on television was in the Channel 5 series Growing Up Season 2 Ep 12: Brother Of Mine in which he made a cameo flashback appearance as a child version of Tay Wee Seng, older brother of Lim Kay Tong’s character Charlie Tay Wee Kiat’s older brother and was credited as Andy Tan in year 1997. He shot to prominence after winning Star Search 2007 and earned a contract with MediaCorp. He was given his first television roles the following year, most notably in the blockbuster period drama The Little Nyonya. Since then he has starred in many high-profile television dramas such as Unriddle, C.L.I.F., Code of Honour, Joys of Life, The Journey (trilogy series) and The Lead.