Today we’d like to introduce you to Rylee Daluisio.
Hi Rylee, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started officially cosplaying my first year of college in 2016. I had always liked dressing up for Halloween and had just started also doing some character work too so had thought about starting cosplay but was unsure. Then I met two friends in my math class that cosplayed and they inspired me to start a cosplay account on Instagram and really go for it! At the beginning, I barely knew how to do makeup, knew nothing about wigs, and was just generally a bit unsure of everything. Throughout time, I’ve gotten much better at makeup (even have done a little fx makeup), have learned about styling wigs (I’m no expert, but have gotten pretty good at anime/spikey fluffy wigs), and have gotten much more confident in putting myself out there.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s generally been a pretty smooth road I’d say. There were (and sometimes still are) times where I feel like I’ve lost some motivation due to getting bad reach, losing followers, posts not doing well, etc. because that can feel super discouraging sometimes. However, the encouragement from my friends in the cosplay community remind me that’s what it’s really all about, and as long as I’m proud of what I’m doing & having fun doing it, that’s what matters the most.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I run a princess/character company! We provide characters for kids parties and other events around the South Bay area. My mom owns the business, and I run it for her. I take care of all of the bookings as well as perform myself. We offer all sorts of characters from princesses to superheroes to cartoon characters. I specialize in the bubbly/high energy characters as well as superheroes. I’m proud of how far I’ve come as a performer. When I started out, I really only played superhero/Star Wars characters because I didn’t think I could “pull off” any princesses. With time, I practiced and even did vocal training so I’d be able to sing the princess songs. I think I’ve come really far since I started and have become a much more confident performer. I try my best to study characters to try to embody their personality/voice/other traits as best as I can. I absolutely love doing story time for the kiddos and have been told I’m great at keeping them all engaged, so I think that’s my specialty when performing. What sets me apart from others is I can do some sorta niche/lesser known characters. I’ve even gotten to use my personal cosplay for work to do characters like Vanellope and Coraline which is super fun!
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I think taking risks is important and can be beneficial, as long as the good outweighs the bad. I generally feel like I don’t take any “crazy” risks like anything that could potentially put myself or others in danger. But if the stake is simply just failing or perhaps being embarrassed then it’s a risk worth taking. I have taken risks in the sense of portraying characters I wasn’t quite sure I could “pull off” but it ultimately has paid off because I’ve been pleasantly surprised at being able to portray characters I never thought I could do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.radcosplay.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rad_cosplay/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066211375302&mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@rad_cosplay?si=SSi0AoH6keTGLnEz
Image Credits
@photograsaurus_rex (Iran Quijano)
