Cosplayer

Please introduce yourself – what is your cosplay name, where are you from, how long have you been cosplaying?

My name is Bettcanard, I’m from Norway and I have been cosplaying since 2011. 

How did your cosplay journey begin? What was your first costume?

It started with my sister telling me how much fun she had at a convention, she insisted I had to join her for the next one and I did. I was absolutely smitten with the community and finally got my place of being creative with crafting. 

How many cosplay competitions/conventions have you been to?

I haven’t been counting but I guess the same amount as my sister so 70 conventions, give or take. But I have always been there for the competition, not only as a competitor but as a judge, as an assistant, as a cheerleader and I find the part of being your cosplay to life at a stage is the highlight of a conversation next to meeting friends.

Which cosplay costume took the longest to make? Why?

That is my Krogan “Grunt” from “Mass Effect”. I spent 1.5 years on it. Long story short, I took a bachelors in mask and hair design, and made the head for my special effects assignment and the bodysuit as my bachelor assignment. The armor was made twice as I wasn’t happy with the first result. All that took time, I learned extremely much and failed a lot but I succeeded with an incredible build.

Which cosplay costume have you worn the most? Why?

That is Anna from Frozen, all because my sister cosplayed Elsa and we just love the movies and it’s the best to cosplay together.

What part of this hobby/lifestyle do you like the most? Why?

The crafting for sure, that’s like therapy for me. I can just sit and craft for hours and hours. But it wouldn’t have been fun without a connection to bring your craft to, and it’s also the absolute best to be a part of a cosplay group. Routing each other up and hyping each other for the convention. 

Do you have any funny stories or accidents related to cosplay?

While sculpting my Grunt body, the poor table I also had made for holding my sculpture gave away and 100kg of clay sculpture was tilting over me. I was in luck, people helped me lift it of me and it was easy to fix the damage that it got. I also learned that you shouldn’t just fix a little bit more with a knife then you are tired, I had stitches and now a scar to prove that. Also if you dry 3D print that’s painted in a tent in the sun, everything get misshapen. It’s a pro tip to see if you aren’t using the same side of a pattern instead of forgetting to mirror it so you are using all your expensive fabric for the wrong cut. Haha the list goes on for stupid mistakes I have made. But that’s the ones you learn from.  

What inspires you to create?

The satisfaction of finishing a crafting progress and what it gives you, new crafting abilities, the learning curve and the problem solving. Seeing a project and trying to make it cheap, lightweight, smart and using local products or garbage as crafting materials. So the challenge inspires me to create. 

Why cosplay is important to you?

It’s challenging, it’s creative, but it’s mostly friends and meeting people who have the same interests as me. 

What are the three main things that cosplay has taught you?

Firstly – crafting skills I didn’t know I would get and love.

Secondly – appreciate the end result even it it wasn’t what you were expecting but I always say to myself  “look at that, you made it, it’s your art don’t be other than proud” 

Thirdly – it taught me to be on stage, and for one that had stage fright made it possible and gave me the confidence boost.

 If you had to choose one character to cosplay for the rest of your life, who would it be?

It has to be Anna, she still has a lot of dresses I crave to wear and she is so much fun to be. Especially to cosplay with my sister. 

What would you consider to be the biggest achievement in your cosplay career?

To get a bachelor degree in mask and hair design, I have had lots of fun jobs in the tv industry and taken my crafting to a whole new level. 

 If you could go back in time to the beginning of your cosplay career, what advice would you give to yourself?

Don’t drink Coca Cola with mentos in your mouth!

What advice would you give to the people who want to start cosplaying, but are afraid or just don’t know where to start?

Start with putting together bought items first and use that to upgrade with paint or a good makeup job, get your feel on dressing up. If you find this fun I’m sure you will evolve and make more of your own. It’s tons of tutorials out there, and conventions provide workshops, and us cosplayers love giving out tips and tricks so take the courage to ask and we love to answer. 

Last but not least, are you looking forward to Comic Con Baltics 2023? 

Enormously, I have never visited Vilnius and can’t wait to meet the people at Comic Con Baltics.