Alec Mapa

Infobox actor
name = Alec Mapa

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caption = Alec Mapa, February 2008
birthname = Alejandro Mapa
birthdate = birth date and age|1965|7|10
birthplace = San Francisco, California USA
occupation = Actor, Comedian, Writer

Alec Mapa (pron-en|ˈmɑːpə "MAH-puh"; born July 10, 1965) is an American actor, comedian and writer.

Personal life

Mapa, a Filipino American,citation |first=Joshua |last=Rotter |url=http://www.afterelton.com/archive/elton/TV/2005/8/alecmapa.html |title=Half & Half's Alec Mapa Goes All Out |date=August 29, 2005 |accessdate=2007-11-02 |periodical=AfterElton.com ] was born in San Francisco and attended George Washington High School (San Francisco).

Mapa is openly gay and lends his support to various projects supporting the gay, lesbian, and Asian American communities.

Career

One of Mapa's earliest appearances was in 1980 as a drama student at Washington High School's production of "Bye Bye Birdie" where he starred as Randolph McAffee. He later appeared in R.E.M.'s seminal video for the song "Losing My Religion" as the boy tied to a tree with an arrow in his heart.

Mapa's senior year productions were "Cabaret" and "Harvey" both in which he had the lead roles. Mapa was also a champion orator in the Humorous and Dramatic Interpretation categories of Speech.

He got his first professional break when he was cast to replace B.D. Wong in the Broadway production of M. Butterfly. On television, he has made guest appearances on a wide variety of programs, including "Jamie Foxx Show", "Roseanne", "Seinfeld", "NYPD Blue", "Friends", "Murder One" and "Dharma & Greg". He co-starred with Jason Bateman in the short-lived 2001 comedy "Some of My Best Friends". He played Adam Benet in the UPN comedy "Half & Half".

He wrote and performed in a one-man play titled "I Remember Mapa", about his experiences growing up gay in San Francisco.

Mapa was a featured performer on the Logo original stand-up comedy series "Wisecrack". He recently appeared as Vern, Gabrielle's gay best friend, on the hit ABC series "Desperate Housewives". He currently plays a recurring role in "Ugly Betty", as the on-screen host of the fashion-oriented television channel that covers the inside gossip from Mode and other fashion magazines.

Mapa's film credits include parts in "Bright Lights, Big City", "Playing by Heart", and "Connie and Carla", among others. He was recently featured in the movies "" and "Tru Loved".

Currently he is hosting "Transamerican Love Story". This show is a reality dating program starring transgender woman Calpernia Addams selecting from among eight potential suitors.

Filmography

* Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
* Dirty Laundry (1988)
* A New Life (1988)
* Pollen (1988)
* Hard Pill (1996)
* Who's Your Daddy? (2003)
* Playing by Heart (2003)
* Connie and Carla (2004)
* (2004)
* The Substance of Fire (2005)
* Tru Loved (2008)
* You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)

Writing

* Half & Half (2006) The Big Nervous Breakup Episode [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795115/ The Big Nervous Breakup Episode] ]

Trivia

*Is sometimes confused with Rex Lee whom plays Lloyd on the hit HBO Dramady "Entourage"

References

External links

* [http://www.alecmapaofficialsite.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/therealalecmapa Official MySpace]
*imdb|0544568