We love Lindsay Elyse. Avid gamer since 1995 and cosplayer since 2005 she is one of the most popular and prolific cosplay celebrities today. She boasts over 1 million followers on Facebook and over 100k followers on Twitch where she streams gaming and cosplay many hours a week.
Have a favorite Lindsay Elyse cosplay? S Let us know and share it with us!
Below, intermixed with our some of our favorite cosplays, are excerpts from an interview by Sui from Team-Dignitas back in 2014. Enjoy!
And at what point did you decide to get into cosplaying? Can you tell us about your first event and the cosplay you were wearing?
Lindsay: I was in 7th grade or so? I was HUGELY into anime at the time, and games still of course, and back then it was super uncool. I didn’t have a lot of friends and spent most of my time online with people that understood me (LOL).
So my mom found this flyer for something called an ‘anime convention’ and offered to take me to get me out of the house. The flyer mentioned something called ‘cosplay’ and even had a contest for the best costume. I didn’t know how to sew, so my mom made my first three costumes for me! Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist, Riku from Kingdom Hearts 2’s Deep Dive Trailer (The blindfolded, dual wielding keyblade one), and Rikku from Final Fantasy X.
Did your passion for gaming influence your choice to become a cosplayer?
Lindsay: Definitely! Since the majority of my cosplays then, and now, are characters from video games! I always wanted to be in a video game, and I think I sort of felt like if I dressed up like the character I would magically appear in the game. I don’t know. Haha
Besides cosplaying and gaming, what do you like doing most in real life?
Lindsay: …There are other things besides gaming and cosplaying!? WHAT. Haha really that’s about all I do. I’m an Irish dancer when I find the time though, and I’ve competed for the last 5 or 6 years! I’m Championship ranked and it definitely keeps me in shape! But mostly… I play video games and make costumes. And travel! I go to Disneyland pretty often.
You are also a model, was it because of your cosplay success that you went into modelling or was it the other way around, cosplay being a branch of your modelling work?
Lindsay: They sort of helped each other out! I started cosplaying first, that was about 7th grade. I did that purely for fun, my only pictures being whatever my friends took with their digital cameras. The summer between 8th grade and high school, I signed on with Elizabeth Savage talent agency and did some modeling stuff. It never really caught on, mostly because I was busy. I continued to cosplay, and as it started to get bigger, I had photographers asking to shoot me in my costumes! So I took what I learned in modeling and applied it to the shoots.
I’m sure that we have plenty of aspiring cosplayers in our fanbase as we’re all fans of games and anime, can you give some advice to those fans how to get noticed as a cosplayer?
Lindsay Elyse: Don’t cosplay to get noticed. If that’s your only reason for doing it, you’re going to hate it. I’ve been cosplaying for 10 years! It doesn’t happen over night! Sure, getting noticed is nice and definitely gives you the boost to keep going and all that, but if you’re only in it for the fans, it’ll destroy you. People aren’t nice, and the internet is a nightmare. Do it because you LOVE IT! The rest will fall into place!
We noticed that you sometimes cosplay together with Jessica Nigri, a friend of our team. How did you two meet and decide to attend conventions together?
Lindsay: Oh man, it was like 2009 maybe? I met her through a mutual friend! We attended the same conventions in Arizona and started to hang out! Over the years she’s become one of my best friends and greatest mentors! I wouldn’t be where I am without her. I’ve gotten SO MUCH BETTER at sewing and painting and armor work and all that in the last few years, and it’s all because of her.
What do you think you would be or do in life if you were not a model/cosplayer?
Lindsay: Well, it’s hard to say! I’ve been doing this for half my life, so it’s weird to think about doing something else! But, I do have a degree in Journalism! I went to school with the intent of writing game reviews or walkthroughs. Or even media coverage for gaming events! I love to write and it’s always come very easily to me. I can’t stay a cosplayer forever, but I will definitely always be in the gaming scene! It really is my whole life!
You stream on Twitch.tv/lindsayelyse, what games are you currently playing that our fans can tune in on?
Lindsay: League of Legends and Titanfall! I haven’t streamed lately because I’ve been CRAZY BUSY with costumes and traveling, but normally I stream on Tuesday nights at 6pm PST! When I stream Titanfall it’s usually because I have a full group of 6 over at my gaming castle (apartment) and we just destroy everyone and everything (they carry me 🙁 ). League I usually play with other people! Occasionally I’ll pull fans in to play a few games, but mostly I just play with some close friends!
Did you know professional gaming was a thing and that teams like us travel around the World to compete for large cash prizes? What do you think of it?
Lindsay Elyse: Yes, I do! I was actually planning to compete in MLG’s Halo 4 competitions, but they dropped it from the list. SO SAD. I’ve always been crazy interested in professional gaming! Someday I’d love to do it, it sounds like a total blast. ARE YOU GUYS RECRUITING!? Hahahah! Just kidding. I’d need A LOT more practice. I get destroyed in everything. BUT SOMEDAY I WILL DO IT.
What is your all-time favorite game, the one you will never get bored of and always go back to whenever your schedule always it. What makes it so awesome?
Lindsay: Kingdom Hearts. Let me tell you about Kingdom Hearts. This game. I remember the first commercial I saw for the game and my entire (RIDICULOUSLY OBSESSED DISNEY FANATIC) family all looked at each other open-mouthed and wide-eyed. We were all like OH MY GOD WHAT IS THIS WE HAVE TO HAVE IT. It was like my absolute two favorite things in the history of my whole life had a sweet precious baby. A Disney video game. And not one of those like official Disney movie games where you do puzzles and color pictures and all that (Oh jesus, I had more of these than I could count), BUT LIKE A REAL ACTUAL FIGHTING TRAVELING TO WORLDS CUTSCENE GLORIOUS GAME. Nothing will ever hit me like Kingdom Hearts did. Ever.
Favorite female gaming character?
Lindsay: Hmm. That’s pretty hard. Probably Rikku from FFX and FFX-2. I’ve done 4 of her costumes and she was a big obsession of mine growing up.
Favorite male gaming character?
Lindsay: Okay. This one’s really hard. Sora, Kratos, Cloud, Illidan, Arthas, Ezio, Ash from Pokemon… I could actually go on forever.
Be sure to check out our article on Lindsay’s buddy, Jessica Nigri Cosplay Queen!
Favorite book and/or movie?
Lindsay Elyse: Book is The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I actually had to read it in school and I totally fell in love with it. It’s a hard read, but it’s got some crazy messages. Atlas Shrugged is another favorite of mine, also by Rand. Favorite movie is Inglorious Basterds! Or Tron.
Now you love Lindsay Elyse too, don’t you? Let us know in the comments and share your favorite Lindsay Elyse cosplay with us!
Thanks for the interview, I hope you enjoyed the questions. Any shout outs to your fans or closing words?
Lindsay: THANKS FOR READING! 😀
To find out more about Lindsay be sure to follow, like, subscribe or whatever it takes on the following links:
facebook.com/LindsayElyseFanPage
twitter.com/ohhlindsayelyse
instagram.com/ohhlindsayelyse
ohhlindsayelyse.tumblr.com
raptr.com/xoThirteen/
twitch.tv/lindsayelyse
