I never meant to be a cosplayer, honestly. It just kind of happened.
Apparently it all started when I was 8 years old. My grandmother made me a Dr. Crusher costume for a Star Trek convention my family was going to. I looked the part, and I even entered the cosplay contest, using my old school late-80's game boy as my tricorder. I didn't win...some amazing cosplayer dressed as poker-playing Data did. But still, I guess that started my cosplay journey.
Fast forward to now. My walk in closet is more than half-filled with cosplay and props. I have modeled for professional cosplay photographers and endorsed cosplay props. I legitimately cosplay at least two weekends a month at various events, I'm known as a cosplay tap dancer throughout the convention industry. It just kind of lined up that way.
I love cosplaying and performing as different characters. It makes tap dance even more fun than I ever thought it could be. I even do non-stage cosplay just for fun with my friends. Currently I'm working on a HeiHei cosplay to wear with my friend who is working on Moana. I am also excited to be the Hawkeye to my best friend's Deadpool, comic version of course.
I have noticed one trend in my cosplay, and I blame the need to wear these costumes on stage for this. I'm always a blonde. That started with Noise Complaint's Final Fantasy VII show. We needed a Cloud Strife and as the company leader, it made sense for me to be the main character. I couldn't dance in a wig because of how crazy I move on stage, so I just went ahead and dyed my hair blonde for the part. I'm still blonde to this day because I love the way it looks, so what could have been a terrible decision worked out alright for me, hehe.
I love being blonde and not having to worry about wigs while dancing, but I do find that it keeps me a bit limited in my cosplay choices. I've been Harley Quinn, Alice (in Wonderland), Bubbles (Power Puff Girls), Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail), Yang Xiao Long (RWBY), and countless other blonde characters. Coming up soon I get to be Captain America and Sonya Blade, and I'm super excited for those too.
But what if I want to be Captain Janeway for our upcoming Taps in Space show? However, "she's not blonde so it won't work for me," is what I resigned to. I'm having trouble finding blonde characters from space-based shows and movies that I want to play. Every time we come up with a new show idea, my first thoughts are "okay so who is blonde in that show/movie/game?" because I always only give myself that character group to choose from. It's very limiting, but I've made it work for the most part.
This is a limitation I place on myself, I know. But it's one that helps me perform at my best. Noise Complaint has tried to use wigs on stage before, but with the limited space, high energy body movements and short windows of prep time, it's simply better for the show if we don't.
People always tell me to just wear wigs on stage and that there are ways to secure it and such. I believe that there are ways to secure wigs, but they don't usually work with how energetic I am when I dance. If you've ever seen a Noise Complaint show, you've seen that my hair has a mind of its own and flies all over the place. I don't want to worry about my wig doing the same and accidentally flying off, and there's no amount of bobbypins that will ease me of that worry. So I play blondes. It works well enough for me.
My only real issue with always being the blonde is that most of the time, the blonde characters are airheaded and/or overly sexualized. Those aren't my favorite traits to portray, especially on stage. I've gotten used to it (and pretty good at it I think), but sometimes I'd much rather be a strong leader type or a brooding bad guy. At the end of the day, though, the show comes first, so I'll be whoever I need to be.
So I typecast myself as the token blonde character (and as the token blonde of Noise Complaint), and it works 90% of the time for the shows. The only time it's problematic is when there are no blonde main characters so I either have to be a side character or just have inaccurate hair (or just change the story to accommodate any character being a lead).
There are so many blonde characters I've loved to play and still want to play (Melody from Josie and the Pussycats, Supergirl, She-Ra, etc.). Yes there are other characters that don't fit my aesthetic that I want to be too, but I will have to settle for cosplaying them off-stage only.
What about you guys? Do you typecast yourself in your cosplay? Do you make concessions for comfort or mobility that make you choose certain types of characters or cause inaccuracies in your costume? I'd love to hear your opinions and stories!