We had the pleasure to exchange a few words with Ashley Rogge, an up-and-comer in the popular world of cosplay. Although new to the scene, she already has a number of costumes under her belt including a gender-bent Ghost from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Viola from Saints Row: The Third, and the extremely popular Gamer Zombie!
[UMDR] What made you want to be a part of the cosplay phenomenon in the first place?
Ghost
[Ashley] Last year was my first time going to a convention at all. A friend had invited me to go to PAX East 2012 with him and there was no way I could pass it up. He knew my favorite character from Call of Duty was Ghost and he had bought me a skull mask just like his from the game. At PAX, my friend let me wear army gear he bought for his Ghost cosplay and I walked around as a gender-bend version of him.
I got stopped for pictures a lot! I stood in the lobby with my arms crossed without moving, except my head, for hours. People would come up and ask for pictures and say how badass I looked. I even had one of the side vendors give me a whole bag of little pins as well as a sketch of me standing there.
It was honestly the most fun thing I’ve done. I was never one to be photogenic, but I think that day in the lobby and pretending to be someone else is what sparked my interest.
