'Half & Half' Mapa: 100 Percent Gay Asian Star

By Paul E. Pratt, Jun 24, 2005
AsianWeek.com

Alec Mapa admits he's far from the norm for network television. On UPN's hit sitcom Half & Half, the openly gay actor is the only Filipino in primetime. Of his unique role, Mapa jokes, "I'm a unicorn!"

It's an appropriately colorful description for Mapa and his on-screen alter-ego "Adam Benet." The actor says he based the character – an over-the-top gay secretary at fictitious San Francisco-based Delicious Records – "on every out, loud and proud queen" he has ever met.

"It's a very unabashed, very unashamed, no-flawed character," Mapa explains, saying he has fun with the role. But Mapa relates only somewhat: "We're both out, and we're both unapologetic, but that's about it."

A busybody lacking "social graces and manners," Adam – and consequently Mapa – was originally slated for two or three episodes of Half & Half. Given the opportunity, though, Mapa made the most of it. He says, "I'm like, 'Just put me in there. Give me a chance.'"

Producers extended the run to seven shows. Then, in the second season, Mapa did 14 episodes, and now in the third season he is a regular.

His efforts on the show caught the eye of the Gay and Lesbian Association Against Defamation (GLAAD). On June 11, in front of a hometown crowd at the Fort Mason Center, the San Francisco native was presented with GLAAD's "Davidson/Valentini Award."

The award goes to an openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender individual who has promoted causes of significance to and awareness of the LGBT community.

Whether by choice or circumstance, Mapa often finds himself a spokesperson for many people and causes. As a primetime star, Mapa has joined a lonesome group.

"I represent all the gay Filipinos, all the Filipinos, all the Asians," he realizes.

Often Mapa lends his name to events such as this year's San Francisco Gay Pride, where he joins the creator of Showtime's The L Word, Ilene Chaiken, as one of the event's two Celebrity Grand Marshals.

Mapa also appeared at the Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center's Asian American AIDS Awareness Day in May, and works extensively with the Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team both in San Francisco and Los Angeles, which distributes HIV/AIDS information in Cantonese, Vietnamese and other Asian languages to urban communities.

"It's visibility. It's somebody attached to the cause," he says. "Whether they know who I am or not, I'm a brown-skinned person saying I'm part of this community and this is something you should be aware of."

Speculating about the implications of his television role, Mapa pauses a moment and then exclaims as if realizing it for the first time: "I am on network television! That's progress."

No matter how slowly, Mapa says a shift toward greater inclusion in the entertainment business can only be a good thing. His nearly 20 years in show business, including a stint on Broadway, first as B.D. Wong's understudy, then the lead in M. Butterfly, support his feeling that television and film are evolving.

"I've never changed," he says. "I've always been out. I've always been Filipino. Little by little, people will start changing their minds and hiring us more."

Being your own advocate and proactive about your career is very important, Mapa points out.

"If you're an artist of color, if you're an actor of color, you can't just wait for those opportunities to come around," he notes. "You'll starve to death!"

Being assertive is the key, he says. Nowhere is this truer than in the hyper-competitive L.A. acting landscape.

"I didn't get asked to audition for [Half & Half]," Mapa explains. "I asked to be seen. You can't be passive about it. You have to really get in there and say 'I want to read for that part.' The worst they can say is no."

Mapa notes that there was no indication that Adam should necessarily be Filipino. While writers develop black or Hispanic characters, seldom do they write Asian-specific roles. This stems from a common misperception among writers, which Mapa says leads to one of the biggest obstacles for Asian actors.

"Writers feel that if there's an Asian actor playing the character, they have to change their writing in some way," he shares. "They're like 'I don't know how to write for a Filipino actor' or 'I don't know how to write for a Vietnamese actor."

This will change when there are more Asian writers, he speculates, but admits even many Asians are hesitant to write such roles. Until then, it is up to actors such as Sandra Oh ("She's doing a fantastic job on Grey's Anatomy.") and others like him to change ideas about Asian roles by appearing regularly on network programming.

"We're proving you don't have to change the writing at all," says the Unicorn, getting to the point. "You just have to hire the right actor."