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 (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

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), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

'', ultimately placing 9th.

Early life and career

Havea was born in

Anthem, Arizona Anthem is a planned community and census-designated place in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, within the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Anthem was 23,190. History Anthem wa ...

before moving to

Dover-Foxcroft, Maine Dover-Foxcroft is the largest town in and the seat of Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,422 at the 2020 census. The town is located near the geographic center of the state. History Dover-Foxcroft was originally t ...

as a kid. He is of

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

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 several ...

. 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 in New York City and Los Angeles, California. The conservatory offers master's degrees, bachelor's degrees, associate degrees, and certificates ...

. He later became a

stage actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

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

stepsister Step-siblings are children born of two different families who have been joined by marriage. A male step-sibling is a stepbrother and a female is a stepsister. The step-siblings relationship is connected through law and is not a blood relation. ...

in the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

production of ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

''. 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

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

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 Delmar Caldwell (born June 22, 1986), also known by his stage name Caldwell Tidicue and better known by his drag name Bob the Drag Queen, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, activist, musician, author, and reality television ...

. 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. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', performing her song "

Swish Swish "Swish Swish" is a song by American singer Katy Perry featuring Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj from the former's fifth studio album ''Witness''. It was initially released as a promotional single on May 19, 2017, and later as the album's third s ...

". 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 news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' ...

'', 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, 1988), best known by the stage name Jaida Essence Hall, is an American drag queen and reality television personality best known for winning the RuPaul's Drag Race season 12, twelfth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

, 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

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, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

. 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 Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-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 Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, Havea lost the lipsync and went home. Brita placed 9th overall in the competition.

Personal life

Havea is

pansexual Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people of all genders, or regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determ ...

and prefers "anything respectful" as pronouns.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Theatre

Discography

Featured singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brita Filter Living people 1985 births 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people American drag queens American people of Tongan descent American pansexual people Drag performers from New York City LGBTQ people from Arizona LGBTQ people from New York (state) Brita Filter Drag performers from Arizona Drag performers from Maine