Today we’d like to introduce you to Roo Ryder.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Growing up I was always into dressing up and playing pretend. I always found it to be a great way to express myself. I would often reenact scenes from Disney movies or dress up as characters like Hannah Montana.
Theater was something I definitely had an interest in as I grew up but I spent my time doing sports instead. I did all kinds of sports such as soccer, basketball, volleyball, swimming, track and field, and cross country. Since I was so busy with my athletics I never really had the time to look into doing theater. I did audition for a musical in about 7th grade and I absolutely did not get cast in it. I was informed about the audition the day before and I had to prepare both a song and a monologue. That was a lot for me to prepare within a day, but I still gave it my best shot. I was bummed that I didn’t get into the musical, but overall it allowed me to focus on my sports.
Once I graduated high school I found out that there was a job in being a children’s entertainer for kids parties where you get to dress up as characters and princesses. I decided to audition for a local one and I made it in! I spent about 2 years doing children’s entertainment until I decided to move on to other adventures.
Since I was already dressing up as characters for a job I was becoming aware that others do it for fun and go to conventions. I then found out what cosplay was and I fell in love with it. From there I started looking into different videos, especially on TikTok, about cosplay. The fandom I first fell into was Danganronpa and Junko Enoshima became my first official cosplay. It was really fun to give my own interpretation of her and continually improve my skills in makeup and wig styling over time to upgrade her even more.
I started working on crafting cosplays that included foam crafting, sewing, wig styling, and painting. It was really fun to be able to bring characters to life in such an artful way. Being able to say that I made the cosplays is always the best feeling.
A few years later I decided to try my hand at voice acting, which has now become my career. It ties in perfectly with cosplay since I have now been able to cosplay a character that I have voiced in the anime My Deer Friend Nokotan! Both cosplay and voice acting have a lot of crossovers between fandoms and the people who enjoy both.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road, but I try my best to work with what I’ve got. Cosplay can be very expensive so sometimes it required patience before I can purchase the next fabric or material that I need to finish what I’m working on. It is also something that requires a lot of creative innovation because some characters have props and pieces that defy gravity in their medium or just don’t make sense in the real world.
Voice acting has also been a lot of work and keeping a positive mindset the best I can through all of the auditioning. But both are very rewarding when you get past the bumpy parts.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
With cosplay I specialize in wig styling, foam crafting, and sewing. I am mostly known for my Junko Enoshima cosplay but I have also been recently getting people recognizing my Nami cosplay from One Piece. I am definitely most proud of my Buggy The Clown cosplay from One Piece. The jacket alone took me 50 hours to sew and it was the first jacket I have ever sewn. It was a lot of trial and error, but it was so worth the work. I also am really proud of my Chopper hat (also from One Piece) because it was something I have never tried before and I think it turned out pretty accurate to the show. I wanted the details to be as close as I could get them.
For voice acting I specialize in animations, anime, video games and more! I am know for Koshitan in My Deer Friend Nokotan, Bea in Broats, Sylph in Monster Never Cry, and other awesome projects. I would say I am very proud of my Koshitan performance. It was my first time doing ADR and it was a dream character to be able to dub in English. I am also very proud of my performance as Lauren in the video game Alex Hill. There was an intense scene towards the end that really challenged me to dig deep emotionally.
I believe what sets me apart from others is always striving to be better than I currently am. Even if I reach a goal of mine I will set another goal to keep myself pushing forward.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
With cosplay I can see it growing even more than it already has. Having more material accessible to everyday cosplayers and hopefully being a little cheaper. The cosplays are only going to grow in complexity and technology as the years go on.
With voice acting I believe it will still be a very popular medium that will allow people to create more characters and games as it goes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rooryder.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rooryderva/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rooryder?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Twitter: https://x.com/rooryderva
Image Credits
Brian Harris (Junko Enoshima Photo)
