Half and Half's Gay Laughs
If you've never watched Half and Half (Mondays at 8:30 pm/ET), the UPN comedy's title seems ripe for all sorts of, um, colorful interpretations.
"I thought it was a show about a hermaphrodite," jokes Alec Mapa, who mouths off for a living as Adam Benet, Mona's sassy, gay office receptionist. The Filipino-American funnyman — seen recently as one of Nia Vardalos' drag-queen buddies in Connie & Carla — became a series regular this year after recurring for two seasons. "The original pilot episode was set in San Francisco, but it had no gay or Asian people," he laughs. "So I was brought on to keep it real." Oh, and just for the record, Half refers to the half sisters played by Rachel True and Essence Atkins.
But back to Mapa. Like Adam, he considers himself "just a gay boy from S.F." That said, Mapa insists fashion is where he draws the line between himself and his character: "Half and Half's costume designer and I have come up with a concept for Adam. He's a person who gets the International Male catalog — and actually decides that those outfits really look good on him. That catalog is the world's hottest guys wearing the world's worst clothes. You always see somebody wearing a step-in onesie at the beach in there!
"I'm not as bold as Adam is," adds the frequent E! commentator, "but I'm inspired to make bolder choices as a result of his fearlessness."
Speaking of bold, Adam often gossips to his office-mates about his dating life, which we haven't seen too much of. "He gets action, but it's largely off-camera," Mapa chuckles. "Will I ever get full-on [sex] on top of the desk in my office? I don't think that's gonna happen. But I'm actually going to move out from behind the desk and be seen in other set pieces this season, so that's exciting."