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 o ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

, 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 seve ...

. 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 pro ...

. He later became a

stage actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

and performed in various regional and national productions. He landed the role of a stepsister in the

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

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 Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her campy style, she has been referred to ...

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. Michaels currently serve ...

'', 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 from ...

'', along with

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 12 The twelfth season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race'' premiered on February 28 and concluded on May 29, 2020. The competition was broadcast on VH1 in the United States and saw 13 new queens competing for the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". VH1 ...

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 comp ...

, Heidi N. Closet 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, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

drag queens. On January 23, 2020, Havea was announced as one of the thirteen contestants on the twelfth season of ''

'', 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 Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to t ...

. 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 Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film '' Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The song was performed in its original show- ...

" 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 , meaning "all" , definition = Sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of gender , classification = Sexual identity , parent = Bisexuality , synonyms = , associated_terms = Polysexual, queer, heterof ...

, and their preferred pronouns are "anything respectful".

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Theatre

Discography

Featured singles

Awards and nominations

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 American people of Tongan descent 1985 births