Photo by Emily Kuroda, Showtime
Long ago, Alec Mapa declared himself to be ”America’s Gaysian Sweetheart”.
Wearing a suit jacket and his signature shorts, he made self-deprecating jokes about being a diminutive, gay Filipino with a standup act that included doing Beyoncé doing Single Ladies and sharing that, as a child, his entire battalion of GI Joe dolls never went to war. Mapa:
”The idea that America would embrace a gay Asian person to its bosom was such an outlandish concept.”
Mapa’s comedy special Alec Mapa: Baby Daddy (2015) is streaming on Showtime. It hilariously, irreverently chronicles his journey to fatherhood via foster adoption.
Mapa first grabbed our attention on Broadway when he replaced B.D. Wong in the original Tony Award-winning production of M. Butterfly. He has guest starred on over 50 television series, including Alias, Friends, Seinfeld, and NYPD Blue. He made Television History for playing the first series regular Gay Asian when he was cast on the CBS sitcom Some Of My Best Friends. More recurring roles on television followed: Half & Half, Suzuki St. Pierre on Ugly Betty, Vern on Desperate Housewives, and Renzo on Switched At Birth.
One of his best film roles is ”N’ Cream” in the drag queen musical Connie And Carla (2004). Other films include Playing By Heart (1998), Marley & Me (2008), and You Don’t Mess With The Zohan (2008).
Mapa’s crackling comedy special Wisecrack premiered on LOGO in 2005 and is now a cult favorite. His terrific comedy specials America’s Gaysian Sweetheart and No Fats, Femmes Or Asians! are streaming on Here!.
Mapa received the prestigious Davidson Valentini GLAAD Award for promoting equal rights for the LGBTQ community. A tireless fundraiser, he has toured the country on behalf of The Human Rights Campaign and The Matthew Shepard Foundation.
He has been a guest judge on World of Wonder‘s RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag U. We love him to pieces.
Mapa lives in L.A. with his husband and his son.
