For some people, it isn’t enough to just be a fan of a character. Some go the extra mile by taking the steps to become and embody their favorite characters through cosplay. For years, Grace McClung has established herself as one of the best in this realm, crafting extremely detailed costumes from a variety of high-profile franchises, including Marvel, Star Wars, and DC. She’s also gotten attention for her creative character-inspired dresses she makes and wears on the red carpet when attending film events. McClung’s had an incredible journey cosplaying — one that seems to be nearing its end in some respects.
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In an interview with ComicBook, McClung explained why she’s scaling back on cosplay efforts after this year, citing time constraints and creative burnout as two key reasons.
“I’m making anywhere between one to two new cosplays a month. In addition to that, I’m doing the cakes and I’m a mom,” McClung said. “So it’s just been a lot and I’m just really burnt out. I just have a lot of cosplays that have been on my list that I really want to just do. So I want to get those out of the way, and then going forward, I think I’ll just be taking on paid promotional work rather than sinking so much time and effort and money into it.”
McClung also touched on the beginning of her cosplay career. She first became interested in superheroes by reading her brother’s comic books (X-Men titles in particular) and later joined a Facebook group of fellow comic readers. After seeing the impressive work that went into her Halloween costumes, McClung’s friends in the group encouraged her to take things a step further.
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“I had become friends with a lot of the people on Facebook and they had noticed how much effort I was putting into my Halloween costumes every year,” McClung said. “They had all mentioned that I would be good at cosplay and I should try that out. I was like, ‘What’s cosplay?’ I had never even heard the word … I knew people had dressed up for Comic-Con and stuff like that but I hadn’t heard the word before … I looked up some cosplayers on Instagram and started following them and felt really inspired. And so, they were all like, ‘We should go to a comic convention together.’ … a part of me was so scared to get started because I’m a grown adult dressing up in a costume … but I was so excited for it. The first one I wanted to do was Mystique.”
Elsewhere in the interview, McClung offered her advice for those looking to break into cosplay and content creation.
“I would say definitely do the characters that you love, that you actually are into, that you get joy out of because it can be extremely easy to get caught up in the rat race of what’s popular or hot at the moment,” McClung said. “You’re gonna end up doing a lot of characters that you kinda like but don’t necessarily love. And you’re gonna get lost in the sea of a bunch of other cosplayers and creators doing the exact same content at the exact same time. So find a way to stand out doing what you love.”
You can follow McClung on Instagram at @graciethecosplaylass.
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