Taya Miller Opens Up About Her Cosplay Journey

With comic book adaptations dominating the zeitgeist for more than two decades, pop culture conventions like San Diego Comic-Con have become some of the biggest events of the year. Anyone who’s attended one of these conventions knows there’s much more to them than just learning updates about upcoming movies and TV shows. They are a place for people to come together and celebrate their passions. Many attendees go the extra mile by dressing up as one of their favorite characters, making their own impressive costumes at home to take the show floor in style. Over the years, Taya Miller has established herself as one of the premier cosplayers, and it was a trip to Comic-Con that ignited that spark.

“I had a roommate back in college, back in 2019. I went to school in Central Florida, and she asked me one day, ‘Do you want to go to Comic-Con with me?’” Miller said in an interview with ComicBook. “And I was like, ‘I’ve never been to one. I don’t know … I don’t I don’t have costumes.’ And and she was like, ‘Here’s a Spider-Man suit.’ And then I wore the Spider-Man suit and that was that. The rest is history.”

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Miller also discussed her process for figuring out which characters she wants to portray.

“Yeah, typically, I just become really hyper fixated on them,” she said. “So I’ll go through phases. I’ll watch something or get a little bit of inspiration. I scroll online … and sometimes I’ll come across really cool fan edits or something. And I’m just like, ‘Wow, this character’s like really badass, and I want to be that.’ So, yeah, I just decide.”

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Of course, anyone who’s perpetually online knows that comment sections can get nasty and toxic, as some people use the anonymity of a screen name to say whatever they want. Miller touched on how she deals with this aspect of her profession and how she tries to foster an inclusive community.

“Honestly, it’s so hard sometimes because I sometimes feel like a shield almost, in that people will comment things — and I have like a few keyboard warriors that are on my side and they’re like the sweetest, sweetest people,” Miller said. “But they’ll comment and it’ll be very sweet things. And then some really mean people … will come in and just be awful towards them. And I will often see the comments first and I’ll go in and delete them. But they’re digs at me most of the time. And so, it hurts. If I could have somebody that could just regulate my social media so I don’t have to see that stuff, I would definitely do that. But I’m okay with it for the most part, because I know that it’s still allowing other people to embrace those parts of themselves, if that makes sense.”

Additionally, Miller shared her advice for anyone who’s looking to break into the cosplaying/content creating game.

“My best piece of advice is to [say], ‘Screw literally everybody else’ and do what you want to do and post what you want. Just follow your passion if you can,” she said. “I think social media is — again, blessing and a curse — but a blessing in that we can explore these creative parts of ourselves and make it into something like a job. I refuse to believe that I’m living in a reality right now. I think I’m just in a coma and I’m dreaming all of this, but, it’s there, like, there’s a there’s an opportunity there. And I think that you should seize it.”

You can head to ComicBook’s Instagram page to learn more about Miller and stay tuned for more conversations with fan-favorite cosplayers.