Place of Residence: Gaithersburg, MD
Years Cosplaying: 1
Characters Cosplayed: Khal Drogo, Recon Assassin, Deathstroke, Aeden Pearce
Facebook Page: Tassellhoff Nerdworks

1)  What was your influence for cosplaying?

I’m a filmmaker, stuntman, and fight actor, but I started off doing theatre in high school. It was always one thing to learn your lines and act like the character, but you don’t really become the character until wardrobe dresses you up and you hit the stage. Last year I was at a pub with a couple of friends who said I should go to Otakon and cosplay as Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones because I looked like him so I went ahead and did it. Of course I also ended up running into another cosplayer and now good friend of mine during the process of putting together KD and I got hooked since. It’s definitely become a major hobby and interest of mine.

On top of that, my Dad’s always had a huge comic book collection and I always watched Star Trek with my mom as a kid. I was born and molded in a nerd environment.

2) How important to do you think it is to be ‘in character’ and why?

Because of my background I think it’s really important to be in character. The video game “Injustice: God’s Among Us” provided me with ideas for poses as Deathstroke. I studied KD’s movements in the TV series for months and learned what I could about his backstory in the books. For my Recon Assassin cosplay I’ve been trailrunning along the C&O Canal to improve on my parkour along with training SRT/CQC with a firearms instructor to really make sure what I’m doing in my poses and movements looks authentic. These all help me out with my ability to do stunts as well. For someone who’s new to cosplay, I really want to make up for my lack of experience working with materials by bringing my characters to life. That’s what I think people love to see at the cons and in the end that’s what makes a great cosplay.

3) What’s the most important part of cosplay for you?

The most important part of cosplay for me is to have fun. We all spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on cosplay and going to cons with no actual monetary return on the investment. If you aren’t having fun then why do it? Also, I hope this isn’t going on for too long, but I’ll see people shaming each other because they aren’t cosplaying the right genre or because they don’t look right. Every cosplayer no matter if they’re just starting or if they’re Jessica Nigri needs to take pride in their work. You’ve made something from pieces of stuff, that’s no easy accomplishment. Go you.

4) What is the most unusual request while in costume?

I usually don’t have too many unusual requests. I guess I look pretty intimidating in my cosplay. I swear I’m a nice guy! I’ve had a decent amount of ladies run up to me wanting to take pictures while I’m cosplaying Khal Drogo. Of course its always a weird point for me because they’ll hand their camera to their boyfriend and come in for a hug. Definitely don’t want it to seem like I’m trying to be handsy with their girl, but I also don’t want to rock the hover-hand. That’s just not classy…