Brita Filter

Brita Filter, the stage name of Jesse Havea, is an American drag queen who has appeared on Shade: Queens of NYC and the twelfth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, ultimately placing 9th.[1]

This article is about the drag queen performer. For the water filter company, see Brita (company).
Brita Filter
Born
Jesse Havea
NationalityAmerican
OccupationDrag queen
Television
Websitethebritafilter.com

Early life and career

Havea is originally from Arizona, and is of Tongan descent.[2] Havea was born and raised Mormon.[3] 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.[4] 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. 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.[5] He then returned to New York City and started his business performing as Brita Filter, a drag queen,[1] stating, "So after that finished, I came back to New York that day, and I decided I was going to take over New York!"[5]

In 2016, Havea won the 2016 Glam Awards for Best Duo alongside fellow drag artist Terra Hyman.[6] In 2018, she won the Best Host and the NYC Entertainer of the Year Award at the Annual Glam Awards.[7]In 2020, Havea co-hosted the 21st annual GLAM Awards, alongside Bob the Drag Queen.[8]

Havea performed alongside Katy Perry on Saturday Night Live, performing her song "Swish Swish".[9][10][11]

Shade: Queens of NYC

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 drag queens.[12]

RuPaul's Drag Race

On January 23, 2020, Havea was announced as one of the thirteen contestants on the twelfth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, becoming the first Pasifika queen to appear on the show.[13] To protect copyright, his stage name on the show is shortened from "Brita Filter" to simply "Brita".[14] In the fourth episode, "The Ball Ball", Havea lipsynced for her life against Rock M Sakura, sending them home to "S&M" by Rihanna.[15] 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" by Caissie Levy, where Brita also sent Aiden home.[16] 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.[17]

Brita placed 9th overall in the competition.

Personal life

Havea identifies as pansexual, and their preferred pronouns are "anything respectful".[18]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2017 The Sorcerer's Apprentice Calcutta Peasant Uncredited [19]

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2012 City of Dreams SVU Actor Episode: "Pilot"
2017 Shade: Queens of NYC Herself Lead role
Saturday Night Live Background dancer
2019 Broad City Guest[20]
2020 RuPaul's Drag Race Contestant (9th Place)
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked
Kal Penn Approves This Message Herself Episode "Kal Penn Approves Education"

Web series
Year Title Role Notes Ref
2017 Daniel's Desk Himself Episode 1 [21]
2019 Cosmo Queens Himself Cosmopolitan Series [22]
2020 Drag News Himself Guest [23]
2020 The X Change Rate Himself Segment: Brita Unfiltered [24]
2020 Whatcha Packin Himself Guest [25]
2020 Review With A Jew Himself Guest [26]
2020 Da Fuq Himself Guest [27]
2020 Out of the Closet Himself Guest [28]
2020 Bring Back My Ghouls Herself Guest [29]

Theatre
Year Production Role Venue Notes Ref(s)
2014 Forever Plaid Smudge Fine Arts Center Theatre Company Credited as Jesse Havea [30]
Cinderella: A New Telling of an Old Tale Stepsister Penobscot Theatre Company [31]
2017 The Shards of an Honor Code Junkie Starr Lyte Metro Baptist Church Credited as Jesse Havea & Brita Filter [32]

Discography
Title Year Album
"I'm That Bitch"[33]
(with The Cast of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 12)		 2020 non-album single
"Madonna: The Unauthorized Rusical"
(with The Cast of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 12)
"The Shady Bunch"[34]
(with The Cast of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 12)

See also

References
  1. Will Linendoll (December 31, 2017). "DRAG QUEENS - Meet Brita Filter, the New York City Drag Queen Spending Thousands on Being Fabulous". Money. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  2. "RuPaul's Drag Race gets its first Pasifika contestant in Brita Filter — but she's 'anything but pure'". www.abc.net.au. 2020-03-06. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  3. The X Change Rate: Brita Filter & Nikita Dragun. BUILD Series. April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  4. Thomas, Jae (October 23, 2019). "Here's How Much It Costs to Dress Like a Drag Queen". Bedfordandbowery.com. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  5. Eileen Shapiro (March 21, 2017). "Brita Filter". Get Out!. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  6. Coco Talanoa. "Meet 'Ru Paul's Drag Race' first Pacific Island contestant - BRITA". Thecoconet.tv/. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  7. Kozma, Leila (January 23, 2020). "Brita Filter Appeared in 'Broad City' and 'Shade' Before Joining 'RuPaul's Drag Race'". Distractify.com. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  8. Shapiro, Eileen (January 21, 2020). "Glam Awards 2020". GetOutMag.com. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  9. "How Katy Perry and her drag queens found themselves on the fake-news frontline". The Guardian. May 25, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  10. "We identified the performers in Katy Perry's 'Swish Swish' on SNL". Queerty. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  11. "Drag Queens and Club Kids "Swish Swish" with Katy Perry On "SNL"". NewNowNext. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  12. "New Series Looks at the 'Hustle And Sacrifice' of NYC Drag Queens - "Shade: Queens of NYC" examines the less glitzy side of Manhattan's drag stars", HuffPost
  13. Aualiitia, Tahlea (March 6, 2020). "RuPaul's Drag Race star Brita Filter says she will 'spread the Polynesian love' as first Pasifika queen". abc.net.au. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  14. Nolfi, Joey (January 23, 2020). "Exclusive: RuPaul, Drag Race season 12 cast give first interviews on 'twisted' new season". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  15. McCallion, Paul (March 20, 2020). "RuPaul's Drag Race Recap: It DO Take Balls!". Vulture.com. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  16. McCallion, Paul (April 3, 2020). "RuPaul's Drag Race Recap: Gigi's Drag Race". Vulture.com. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  17. McCallion, Paul (April 10, 2020). "RuPaul's Drag Race Recap: Get Into the GRuve". Vulture.com. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  18. Rodriguez, Joe (January 17, 2020). "20 Queer Q's with Brita Filter". Pride.com. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  19. "Jesse Havea Backstage".
  20. Street, Mikelle (March 5, 2019). "Sasha Velour, Shangela, and Jiggly Caliente Were All on 'Broad City'". Out.com. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  21. Daniel's Desk- Episode 1: NYC Drag Queens. YouTube. April 6, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  22. Brita Filter's Stunning Sunset Beauty Look Will Make You Want to Take a Beach Vacay. Cosmopolitan. April 29, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  23. Queens Investigate Grocery Store Ghost Sighting | Drag News | LX. NBCLX. March 3, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  24. The X Change Rate: Yandy Smith. BUILD. March 5, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  25. Whatcha Packin’: SPOILER ALERT | S12 E7 | RuPaul’s Drag Race. WOWPresents. April 11, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  26. Miz Cracker's Review with a Jew - S12 E07 Feat. Special Guest!. Miz Cracker. April 12, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  27. Honey Davenport - DA FUQ S2 E2 feat. Brita. Honey Davenport Official. April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  28. Welcome to Brita’s Room | S3 E2 | RuPaul’s Drag Race Out Of The Closet. RuPaul's Drag Race. May 26, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  29. Bring Back My Ghouls: RuPauls Drag Race Season 12 Queens. YouTube. May 30, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  30. Wheeler, Bill (May 10, 2014). "Forever Plaid". Theatercolorado.blogspot.com. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  31. Burnham, Emily (March 5, 2019). "Maine native and former Penobscot Theatre actor part of season 12 of 'RuPaul's Drag Race'". Bangordailynews.com. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  32. Voss, Brandon (April 16, 2020). "New Musical "Shards Of An Honor Code Junkie" Tackles Gay Mormons, Suicide". NewNowNext.com. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  33. "I'm That Bitch - Single". iTunes.
  34. "The Shady Bunch / Bring Back My Girls - Single". iTunes.
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