Actors/Actresses: September 2006 Archives

It's been such a fun and rewarding month with all the cool people I've met and interviewed. And the very funny and talented Alec Mapa belongs right near the top of that list. Alec, who appeared in the film "Connie and Carla" and the recently-axed sitcom "Half & Half," is difficult to interview because you are laughing so hard that you can't type. We happened to meet just by chance at The Abbey earlier this year and had a good gab then and he introduced his husband, Jamison Hebert, to my friends and I.

So when Frontiers magazine asked me to do a cover story on Alec and his one-man stage show that runs this weekend, I jumped at the chance! And so, in the shameless self-promoting whore department, here is a link to that story which hit the streets today. And here are some highlights from our talk, which this time took place on the phone:

On sex:
“I think gay Asian guys are really kind of desexualized, there’s no kind of sexual image of them, we tend to be very asexual. In all of my [stand-up] shows, I’m getting laid. That’s a really important part of my persona. If you don’t hear your own story being told, you tend to think your story doesn’t matter, that your story isn’t valid.�

On meeting Hebert, whom he has been with for nearly five years:
“I thought he was in high school so I stayed away from him,� Mapa, 41, recalls. “But it turned out he was 24, had just graduated from Cal State Fullerton, and lived with his grandma. I was like, ‘You had me at grandma.’�

On his pre-Hebert dating life:
“Everybody has that one relationship that makes them cry out, ‘What was I thinking?’ I’ve had 37. And on paper, he was none of the things I considered marriage material. I was supposed to end up with a studio executive with a coke problem and a home in Santa Barbara. That’s my history.�

On being a gay actor:
“I really didn’t come out professionally, but you’d have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to not know I’m gay,� he says. “Then I discovered that it wouldn’t make a difference. What? I was going to lose out on all the great roles for Asian males under five-foot-five? The minute I came out it was the first authentic thing I had to offer, the only authentic voice I had.

Daniel Craig may be playing legendary ladies man James Bond in "Casino Royale" in November, but in the latest biopic about Truman Capote, "Infamous," he won't be locking lips with Pussy Galore or any other Bond girls. Instead, he shares a kiss with British actor Toby Jones! Jones plays Capote while Craig is cast as killer Perry Smith.

While at the Venice Film Festival, Jones talked about kissing the next Agent 007: "I had never dreamed I would kiss James Bond. It's not something I would ever aspire to. Now that I've done it, I hope I'm the first of many. It was slightly abrasive, but ultimately rewarding. And neither of us are gay. We filmed the prison scene right at the end and I was aware it was going to be a pressurised situation, this very intense scene filmed in such an intimate space. I thought it was going to be the really gruelling part of the movie. But it was fantastic to work with Daniel because as an English actor there's a kind of humour that goes with those scenes. You take it seriously but you also find a way to deal with it."