Brita Filter, the stage name of Jesse Carl Havea, is an American
drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...
who has appeared on ''
Shade: Queens of NYC'' and the
twelfth season of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race
''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...
'', ultimately placing 8th.
[
]
Early life and career
Havea is originally from Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, and is of Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
n descent.
Havea was born and raised Mormon
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...
.
Havea grew up as a child performer, and later went on to book national tours with theater companies and eventually studied acting at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy
The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) is a private conservatory for the performing arts located in New York City and Los Angeles, California. The conservatory offers both Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and two-year certificates in prof ...
. He later became a stage actor and performed in various regional and national productions. He landed the role of a stepsister in the musical production of ''Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
''. On the last night of his tenure with this production, Havea met a girl named "Brita" and decided to make "Brita Filter" his stage name that night. He then returned to New York City and started his business performing as Brita Filter, a drag queen, stating, "So after that finished, I came back to New York that day, and I decided I was going to take over New York!"[
In 2016, Havea won the 2016 Glam Awards for Best Duo alongside fellow drag artist Terra Hyman.] In 2018, she won the Best Host and the NYC Entertainer of the Year Award at the Annual Glam Awards. In 2020, Havea co-hosted the 21st annual GLAM Awards, alongside Bob the Drag Queen
Christopher D. Caldwell, better known as Bob the Drag Queen and Caldwell Tidicue, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, activist, musician, and reality television personality. He is best known for winning the eighth season of ''RuPaul's D ...
.
Havea performed alongside Katy Perry on ''Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
'', performing her song " Swish Swish".
Havea starred in a segment called "How Drag Queens Are Getting Out the Vote" on ''The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form fro ...
'', along with RuPaul's Drag Race Season 12 co-stars Jaida Essence Hall
Jared Johnson (born December 9, 1986), best known by the stage name Jaida Essence Hall, is an American drag queen and reality television personality best known for winning the twelfth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', and later returning to com ...
, Heidi N. Closet
Heidi N Closet is the stage name of Trevien Anthonie Cheek, an American drag queen from Ramseur, North Carolina, best known for competing on the twelfth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', where she placed 5th and won the Miss Congeniality award.
...
and Jackie Cox.
Havea is a co-chair o
Drag Out The Vote
a nonpartisan nonprofit that works with drag performers to promote participation in democracy.
Havea joined the cast of '' Shade: Queens of NYC'' at its inception in October 2017, as Brita Filter. The series documents the daily reality of lives as Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
drag queens.
On January 23, 2020, Havea was announced as one of the thirteen contestants on the twelfth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race
''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...
'', becoming the first Pasifika queen to appear on the show. To protect copyright, his stage name on the show is shortened from "Brita Filter" to simply "Brita". In the fourth episode, "The Ball Ball", Havea lipsynced for her life against Rock M Sakura, sending them home to " S&M" by Rihanna. She later found herself again in the bottom two in episode six, where she lipsynced for her life against Aiden Zhane, to "Let It Go
"Let It Go" is a song from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film ''Frozen (2013 film), Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert L ...
" by Caissie Levy
Caissie Levy (born April 15, 1981) is a Canadian-American actress and singer, mainly known for her work in musical theatre on Broadway and in the West End. Her early Broadway credits included Penny Pingleton in '' Hairspray'' and Sheila in ''Hai ...
, where Brita also sent Aiden home. She was in the bottom two again on episode seven, where she lipsynced for her life against Heidi N. Closet, to " Burning Up" by Madonna, Havea lost the lipsync and went home.
Brita placed 8th overall in the competition.
Personal life
Havea is pansexual
Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determining factors in their ...
, and their preferred pronouns are "anything respectful".
Filmography
Film
Television
Web series
Theatre
Discography
Featured singles
Awards and nominations
See also
* LGBT culture in New York City
* List of LGBT people from New York City
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filter, Brita
Living people
American drag queens
American people of Polynesian descent
LGBT people from Arizona
LGBT people from New York (state)
Pansexual people
People from Arizona
Brita Filter
Brita Filter, the stage name of Jesse Carl Havea, is an American drag queen who has appeared on ''Shade: Queens of NYC'' and the RuPaul's Drag Race (season 12), twelfth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', ultimately placing 8th.
Early life and car ...
American people of Tongan descent
1985 births