Alec Mapa

Alejandro "Alec" Mapa (; born July 10, 1965) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He got his first professional break when he was cast to replace B. D. Wong for the role of Song Liling in the Broadway production of M. Butterfly. He gained recognition for roles such as Adam Benet on Half & Half, Suzuki St. Pierre on Ugly Betty and Vern on Desperate Housewives. Mapa recurred as Renzo on Switched at Birth.

Mapa co-hosted the Logo network reality dating game show Transamerican Love Story with Calpernia Addams in 2008. In 2013, he debuted in his own one-man show, Alec Mapa: Baby Daddy, which was made into a concert film and premiered on Showtime in 2015.

Early life Mapa was born in San Francisco and attended George Washington High School.

Mapa has appeared in various iterations of the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race and its spin-off shows. He first appeared in 2010 as a guest judge on the second season for the first ever Snatch Game challenge. In 2011 he appeared as a guest judge on the second season of the spin-off series RuPaul's Drag U for the Suddenly Single challenge. In 2013 he performed in drag as a warm-up act for the live finale of the show's fifth season. He returned in 2021 as a special guest for the Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent Monologues challenge on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. His next appearance was in 2022 as a guest judge for the "60s Girl Groups" episode on the fourteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. The same year Mapa began hosting, alongside comedian Loni Love, the official RuPaul's Drag Race podcast, Squirrel Friends, in collaboration with iHeartRadio. For a brief period in 2021 he had previously hosted a previous iteration of the podcast, simply entitled The Official RuPaul's Drag Race Podcast, alongside Canada's Drag Race season 1 winner Priyanka. His most recent appearance was in 2023 as a special guest for the Carson Kressley, This is Your Gay Life challenge on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.

In 2023, Mapa appeared in the Lifetime original film, Ladies of the '80s: A Divas Christmas, starring Loni Anderson, Morgan Fairchild, Linda Gray, Donna Mills, and Nicollette Sheridan.

Personal life Mapa is gay On the TV series The Gossip Queens, Mapa stated in the opening episode that he and his husband had adopted a 5-year-old boy in 2010.

Credits

Writer Half & Half (2006): "The Big Nervous Breakup Episode"

Filmography + Film roles Year Title Role Notes 1988 Bright Lights, Big City Yasu Wade 1988 A New Life Sybil 1996 The Substance of Fire New Receptionist 1998 Playing by Heart Lana 2003 Who's Your Daddy? Nat-San Wang 2004 Connie and Carla Lee / N'Cream 2005 Hard Pill Protester 2005 Pollen Howard 12 minutes 2006 Dirty Laundry Daniel 2008 Marley & Me Jorge 2008 Tru Loved Mr. Bushnell 2008 You Don't Mess with the Zohan Claude 2008 Laughing Matters... The Men Himself stand-up comedy; 2011 Going Down in LA-LA Land Himself 2011 Half-Share Ito Short Film (29 minutes) 2011 Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure Gill Samms 2011 Winner Takes All Simon Short Film (15 minutes); included in the compilation film Black Briefs (2012) 2012 Family Restaurant Daddy Short Film (10 minutes) 2014 Alec Mapa: Baby Daddy Himself concert film of one-man show 2014 Such Good People Jigme Wanchuck2017 A Very Sordid Wedding Marty Wells 2017 The Year of Spectacular Men Overzealous Casting Director2019Grand-Daddy Day CareNed Tooley 2020 Chick FightChuck 2021 Queen BeesLito Santos 2023 Ladies of the '80s: A Divas ChristmasJeffrey

+ Television roles Year Title Role Notes 1987 ABC Afterschool Special Peng Episode: "Supermom's Daughter" 1990 Wretched Fan Episode: "Off to See the Wretched" 1992 Flying Blind Lucas Episode: "The Secret of My Great Dress" 1992 Melrose Place Jeweler No. 2 Episode: "The Whole Truth" 1993 Key West Episode: "The Second Day in Heaven" 1993 Nguyen Episode: "Paris, May 1919" 1994 Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart Hal Trask 1994 Roseanne Kyle Episode: "Skeleton in the Closet" 1995 Hangin' with Mr. Cooper Perry Episode: "Halloween" 1995 Law & Order Brian Yoshimara Episode: "Rebels" 1995 M.A.N.T.I.S. Troy Episode: "The Sea Wasp" 1995 Seinfeld Paul Episode: "The Pool Guy" 1996 Ike Yee Episode: "A Star Is Almost Born" 1996 NYPD Blue Angela Episode: "Unembraceable You" 1997 Murder One Damien Vasquez Episodes: "Chapter Seventeen, Year Two" and "Chapter Eighteen, Year Two" 1997 Murder One: Diary of a Serial Killer Damien Vasquez TV miniseries 1997 Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher Sammy Choi Episode: "Party at Nick's Place" 1997 NYPD Blue Angela Episode: "I Love Lucy" 1997 Spy Game Andy Shawn Episodes: "With Friends Like These..." and "Well, Nothing to Fear But Death Itself" 1998 Friends The Housekeeper Episode: "The One with All the Thanksgivings" 1998 Holding the Baby Nelson Episode: "No Man Is a Fantasy Island" 1999 Dharma & Greg Trina Episode: "Welcome to the Hotel Calamari" 2001 Some of My Best Friends Vern Limoso 8 episodes 2002 Baby Bob Brian Episode: "House of the Rising Son" 2002–2005 Half & Half Adam Benet 58 episodes 2003 Alias NSC Techie Episode: "The Nemesis" 2004 E! 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment Himself Special 2004 I'm with Her Henry Liu Episode: "Not in My Dress You Won't" 2004 Significant Others Parent No. 1 Episode: "A School, Not Cool & a Fool" 2005–2007 Desperate Housewives Vern 5 episodes 2005 Wisecrack Himself stand-up comedy 2006 Help Me Help You Andrew Episode: "Inger Management" 2007 Heartland Teddy DeSilva Episode: "A Beautiful Day" 2007–2010 Ugly Betty Suzuki St. Pierre 30 episodes 2007 Himself 2008 Celebracadabra Pilot Contestant 2008 Dancing with Dogs Himself (Host) 2008 Transamerican Love Story Himself (Host) 8 episodes 2009 Alec Mapa: No Fats, Femmes or Asians Himself stand-up comedy special 2009 Annul Victory Himself Documentary 2009 Numbers Clerk Episode: "Old Soldiers" 2009 Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World Uncle Bakla (voice) Episodes: "House of Race Cards" and "Marry X-Mas" 2010 2010 NewNowNext Awards Himself 2010–2011 The Gossip Queens Himself (Host) 68 episodes 2010 Jonas Chef Shiraki Episode: "A Wasabi Story" 2010 Pride: The Gay & Lesbian Comedy Slam Himself stand-up comedy special 2010, 2022 RuPaul's Drag Race Himself 2 episodes 2010 Himself 2 episodes 2011 Rules of Engagement Restaurant Manager Episode: "The Power Couple" 2011 RuPaul's Drag U Himself (Guest Judge) "Suddenly Single" 2012 Scandalicious Himself (Presenter) 4 episodes 2014 Switched at Birth Renzo 8 episodes2014Hey Qween!Himself (guest)1 episode 2015 Major Crimes Nurse Episode: "The Jumping Off Point" 2015 Candidly Nicole Himself Episode: "Gay" 2015 The Thundermans Cutest Baby Judge Episode: A Hero Is Born 2016 Mom Milo Episode: "Quaaludes and Crackerjack" 2016-2020 Henry Danger Jack Frittleman 4 episodes 2016 2 Broke Girls Lawrence Episode: "And the Lost Baggage" 2018 Raven's Home Mapa Episode: "The Falcon and the Raven, Part 1" 2019 Doom Patrol Steve Larson / Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man 3 episodes 2019 Team Kaylie Gerald Episode: "Lights, Camera, Retraction" 2020 Danger Force Jack Frittleman Episode: "The Danger Force Awakens" 2021, 2023 RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars Himself (Special guest) Season 6, Episode: "The Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent Monologues"Season 8, Episode: "Carson Kressley, This Is Your Gay Life" 2022–2023 The Villains of Valley View Mr. Tennyson Recurring role