LOS ANGELES, California?Steadily, but not quite so quietly, Fil-Am actor Alec Mapa has been building a name for himself in America?s stages, TV shows and films.

In the new comedy ?You Don?t Mess With the Zohan,? Alec plays Claude, a hairdresser who teaches and helps Adam Sandler?s character, Zohan (an Israeli commando who fakes his own death) pursue his dream: become a hairstylist in New York. Alonso Duralde, msnbc.com film?s critic, in his review of the movie, cites the thespian, who is related to Philippine actor Jao Mapa, as ?the always-hilarious Alec Mapa.?

We?ve featured Alec several times in the past. Each time, we expressed hope that an enterprising Manila impresario would bring his hilarious solo act to the Philippines. The actor, raised in San Francisco, college educated in New York and based in LA for several years now, has to be seen to experience how belly-aching his humor can be. Alec?s latest solo show, ?America?s Gaysian Sweetheart,? goes onstage at Joe?s Pub in New York on June 28 and 29 (visit www.joespub.com for more information).

Winner of several awards for his stage performances and gay rights advocacy and leadership, Alec has a recurring role as star fashion reporter, Suzuki St. Pierre, in the TV series, ?Ugly Betty.? He was Vern, a recurring character, in ?Desperate Housewives? from 2005 to 2007. When a line spoken by Teri Hatcher?s character in ?Desperate?? was deemed racist by many Filipinos and sparked controversy and outrage, we printed Alec?s views on the matter in an October 7, 2007 column titled ?Alec Mapa puts hot issue in Pinoy perspective.?

Below are excerpts of our interview via e-mail with Alec:

In ?You Don?t Mess With the Zohan,? whose decision was it to play Claude as a subtle gay hairstylist, without the flamboyance of the stereotypical portrayals of such a character?

Thanks for noticing! The whole movie had such colorful, outsized characters to begin with and I was acting opposite Adam, so my goal was to get laughs by not playing for laughs. The visual jokes in the script were so bananas that all I had to do was react.

Comment on the following excerpt from a review by Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe: ?Nothing has brought me more cheap pleasure at a movie this year than the sight of shampoo and conditioner bottles falling off a rocking wall while comedian Alec Mapa, as a ? stylist, tries to keep a straight face. He does a much better job than I did.?

Nobody?s ever described me as having a straight face, let alone keeping one. I?m flattered.

Adam Sandler and Alec Mapa?classmates at New York University. How was Adam back then? What?s he really like now?

Adam and I were in the same class as Molly Shannon (?Saturday Night Live,? ?Evan Almighty?). We were all friendly because none of us ever got cast in any of the plays put on by the University. We all started doing our own comedy routines in clubs and theaters. Being proactive was what moved us forward. Adam?s a bit on the shy side, but he?s extremely loyal. The entire crew on ?Zohan? had all worked on tons of movies with Adam before, so I felt like I had walked in on a family reunion that was already underway.

Adam wears a codpiece to portray a well-endowed guy in ??Zohan.? Did you get to tease him about it?

I stared at his package all day. Real or not, it had a hypnotic, mesmerizing effect.

While you don?t have scenes with Rob Schneider, did you have a chance to talk to him about being Filipino-American? Have you met his Filipina mother who appeared in several of Rob?s films?

No scenes with Rob, unfortunately, and I didn?t meet his mommy. We did, however, make each other giggle in the make-up trailer by speaking to each other in a Filipino accent. His is ?bery imfeccable.?

With this movie, are you now officially part of Adam?s posse of actors who regularly appear in his films?

I?d be extremely fortunate if I were. Maybe all our Filipino Catholic readers can start a novena on my behalf.

What?s the latest with your role on ?Ugly Betty?? I heard the show is moving to New York. Since you are based in LA, do you have mixed feelings or are you thrilled about earning double miles and yeah, the first class amenities?

I?m thrilled about the double miles! I?m on the road half the year, so traveling to New York is a piece of cake. I lived there for seven years, so each trip back feels like a homecoming. I?m just sad for the 300 crew members who lost jobs here (in LA). First class rocks. A single glass of champagne at 30,000 feet gets me drunk faster than anything.

The cable network, TCM (Turner Classic Movies), is presenting in June ?Race and Hollywood: Asian Images in Film,? a festival of films that analyzes how Asians have been depicted on screen. It includes a discussion of how, in the early days, white and black actors were made up to look Asian. In your solo shows, you riffed on this topic with your hilarious spoof of Juanita Hall portraying Bloody Mary in ?South Pacific? and a Chinese woman in ?Flower Drum Song.? Your thoughts on this? Will you be watching this TCM programming?

I?ll have to TiVo it. I?m all over the States in June. I think as a history lesson, that festival will be enlightening. Asian portrayals in cinema are still limited, but progress is being made. I hope to be a part of that progression. Novenas, please.

What kind of uncensored fun do you have in store for folks who will troop to Joe?s Pub in New York to watch your ?America?s Gaysian Sweetheart??

I worked on six gay cruises with Atlantis Events and one with Rosie O?Donnell?s ?R Family Cruises.? Gay people party like the world is about to end in 10 minutes. I took notes. I saw things a lady?s not supposed to see. I will also talk about getting drunk with Debbie Reynolds, Charo?s boobs, traveling to Russia with my friend Brian Graden, the president of MTV and the embarrassment of farting out loud in Prada. In Rome.

How much fun did you have learning to perform professional magic tricks in ?Celebracadabra,? VH1?s magic-themed celebrity reality competition series?

Sooo much fun. I still know the tricks they taught me. They?re fun but dangerous because they involve a lot of bottle smashing and cards. It?s complicated.

What do you play in the film, ?Tru Loved??

I play a very closeted high school teacher named Mr. Bushnell. Jane Lynch plays my beard (his character?s companion to camouflage his homosexuality). It?s a funny role, but kind of sad because while others around him are living their lives openly and honestly, my character is so ashamed of being gay. He doesn?t feel confident enough to be his authentic self.

What else is cooking?

I just finished a movie with Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston called ?Marley & Me? and I?m developing my own talk show for the MTV network, Logo.

You married your long-time partner, Jamison Hebert. What made you finally decide to make it official? Any words of wisdom or advice that your father gave you upon your marriage?

We did it for love, but also for legal purposes. We have property together that needed to be protected, and we needed hospital visitation rights in case of an emergency?stuff straight people get automatically the minute they get married. Because our partnership isn?t recognized by the federal government, my husband?s health coverage that he receives from my Screen Actors Guild insurance is taxed as income?$4,000 a year. That?s not right. My father didn?t have any advice, but my lola once sagely told me, ?Never let a man hit you more than once.?

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, ?The Nepales Report,? on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.