Cosplayer of the Month: Alexandria The Red!

Hello again fans and followers. Your intrepid cosplay reporter, DarthSparrow here. Welcome to another exciting installment of Cosplayers of the Month. Today’s episode brings us one of the many lovely ladies of cosplay! I met Alexandria (or Alex) at WonderCon in 2012. I was dressed as Tony Stark and she was next to a gentleman who cosplays as Captain America. Admittedly, she caught my attention first so I asked them for a pic. Since then I have had the opportunity to chat with this amazingly talented lady online and at several conventions. Alex is always lovely, sweet, kind, and friendly. In a world where sadly I see more and more rude and snobby cosplayers, Alex is a true representation of the spirit of what cosplay and the community are all about. Naturally, it wasn’t hard for me to choose her as my first female cosplayer to feature. So, without further ado, here is my interview with her. Ladies and Gentleman, Miss Alexandria the Red!

Alex, tell us a little bit about yourself. How old are you and how long have you been cosplaying?

I am 21 years old and am local to Southern California. I have been cosplaying since 2011.

Tell us some of the characters you cosplay as.

I tend to gravitate toward independent badass female characters. Katniss Everdeen, Daenerys Targaryen, Pamela Isley, Natasha Romanov, and Saeko Busujima are all strong-willed women. I also love portraying firey redheads. Above all, I have to feel for the character. I simply can’t devote 10-80 hours of my time to a cosplay when I don’t love the character. I don’t have the feels.

What was your first costume that you remember cosplaying and what made you choose that?

My first costume that I consider a cosplay was Bellatrix Lestrange for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 premiere at my local theatre. I attended the previous film premiere in a “closet cosplay” version. After meeting several cosplayers at the Part 1 premiere, I decided to make my Bellatrix cosplay from scratch for Part 2. It was a huge hit and it helped me decide that I liked cosplaying as a creative outlet and I wanted to do more with it.

What was the first convention you ever went to and what was your first experience like?

My first con was Wondercon 2012. I dressed as Natasha Romanov from Iron Man 2. It was raining that day, and my hair became a matted mess! After making it into the convention hall I stuck with a few friends who were also cosplaying as Avengers. I was surprised by the amount of friendly people I encountered there. I made many friends that day, which made the entire experience that much better. Everyone was open and receptive and that’s what I love about conventions.

Out of the many costumes that you have donned, what is your favorite to wear and why?

I really love wearing Slave Leia because for me, its a symbol. The first time I donned the Slave Leia bikini, it was on loan for a photo shoot. I had recently lost weight and found the confidence to wear the bikini. I love to wear it because it makes me feel as capable, confident, and sexy as Princess Leia Organa. I’m aware the bikini was a symbol of Leia’s enslavement, but she never lost her spirit, her chains never defeated her. And what is more badass than strangling one’s captor with one’s own chains?

Tell us about the craziest or weirdest experience that you have had at a con?

This past November at Stan Lee’s Comikaze I participated in the Geek Fashion Show. Before our time slot, Battlestar Galactica (one of my favorite shows) was having a panel discussion that included Commander Adama himself: Edward James Olmos. After the panel ended, the models for the fashion show were waiting in the wings to go onstage. Olmos came through the curtains to find 40 scantily clad ladies all staring at him in astonishment. He smiled and said we all looked beautiful.

As I understand you were asked to be in some sort of video game? Tell us about that and how it came about.

I’m really excited to be involved with this project along with a lot of other really talented ladies of the cosplay world. Sleepy Giant is the company who pitched the idea to me. Basically I’ll be a DLC character for their new game Comic ConQuest which will be Coming soon to iOS, Android and Web. It’s an adventure on a comic convention floor where you’ll be fighting off tons of super powered enemy cosplayers!

Is there anyone you look up to in the cosplay community and why?

Yes. I really love Meagan Marie and Courtoon at the moment. Their attention to detail as well as dedication to accuracy in their craft is inspiring.

So where would you like to see yourself in this community in 5 years. Is this something you would like to pursue as a career.

In 5 years? Still just making cosplays and having fun. I would not say I would persue it as a career exactly (my chosen career is nursing) but I want to continue to let cosplay be a large part of my life. It makes me happy.

What are you working on right now? What costumes are you planning for the future?

I have several cosplays currently in progress: Elsa from Frozen, Caitlin from League of Legends, and Night Bitch from Kick Ass 2.

If money and resources were no object, what would be your dream cosplay?

I would love to do Faora’s armor from Man of Steel.

Give us info on where to find you on the web?

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlexandriatheRed
Instagram: @Alexadriathered
Twitter: @Alexandriathred (no ‘e’ in the)

We would again like to Thank Alex for her time and sharing with us! You are amazing and we hope to see you on our podcast soon!

 

That’s all for today friends. Thanks for reading and as always, this is DarthSparrow and I will catch YOU, on the Geek Side 🙂