Meet Samantha...
Krewe du Who: Why do you cosplay, or what do you like the most about it?
Samantha Barnes:It’s fun! Who doesn’t love dressing up as their favorite characters, getting to be them for a few hours? I’ve been doing theater for most of my life so making costumes for different characters is nothing new for me. I didn’t actually start cosplaying until I went to my first convention a few years ago in normal garb and realized what I was missing out on!
KdW: How many costumes do you presently own?
SB: More than I can count! I have 2 that I currently use on a regular basis for conventions – the 4th Doctor and Star Trek – but I recently finished putting together Beetlejuice and I’m going to be debuting a new one too for Geek Girls With Guns soon (not saying what though – it’s a surprise!). I’ve also done Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter, Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family, Magenta from RHPS, Alice Cooper, and The Wicked Witch of the West.
KdW: What makes a costume one that you want to cosplay?
SB: It’s just a matter of who they are and how they’ve made an impression on me. If I’ve come across their story and their character in a time that was important to me, their story is more likely to stick out and be memorable, so I’ll want to bring it to life in my own way. For example, the 4th Doctor was the first Doctor I saw (when I was a toddler). I didn’t start regularly watching Doctor Who until around the end of the third season of the reboot (I didn’t even know there was a reboot until then – I spent a lot of time catching up before season 4!). But as they say, you never forget your first Doctor, and Baker was mine, so he’s the one I’ll always cosplay.
KdW: Do you belong to any costuming groups?
SB: I’d love to get in with other cosplayers but as of now my only groups are KdW and Starfleet.
KdW: Do you attend any cons in costume?
SB: Still living the broke college student life, so funds for bigger cons aren’t exactly abundant. My family is considering trying to go to SDCC next summer, but it’s all a matter of how money plays out. (And, y’know, getting tickets, which is just about impossible.)
KdW: What was the best experience you've had in costume?
SB: Definitely at MobiCon earlier this year, when I did Beetlejuice for the first time. It was something so different people absolutely loved it, and I loved that I got to run around in one of my favorite Tim Burton characters. It was funny the next day, though – I was in 4th Doctor, and none of the people I had talked to as Beetlejuice recognized me!
KdW: While in costume have you met the original actor that you're playing tribute to? If so, what was his or her response?
SB: I wish. The closest I’ve ever come to that was I met James Marsters while wearing a Buffy the Vampire Slayer shirt. A lot of the characters I cosplay aren’t ones where the actor attends conventions. It would be awesome if it ever happened, though. I know some of the Harry Potter actors go to Chicago Comic Con occasionally… I might have to pull out Bellatrix for that if I can ever go!
About DOCTOR WHO...
KdW: What do you like the most about Doctor Who?
SB: Everything. The cheesy SFX, the Doctor struggling to live with killing his entire species, the moral questioning, the sass that was 9 and Donna (THAT CROSSOVER NEEDS TO HAPPEN. SO. MUCH. SASS.), the weeping angels… I mean, how can you not love it? Unless the only episode you’ve seen is Love and Monsters…
KdW: Have you been involved with Krewe du Who before?
SB: I was a part of the femme Doctor photoshoot that happened a few months back, and I’ve gone to a few events at Crown and Anchor. My biggest involvement with the Krewe is the upcoming dance troup Cyber-Steppers, for which I’m choreographer.