Greetings my fans of NERDom. How are you today? Earlier this week I promised a week of amazing posts and today is no different. Today I have an interview with the closest thing to a real Aquaman as I can get. This cosplayer needs no introduction for he is simply the True Aquaman. So without further delay, let us enjoy my interview with this wonderful and talented cosplayer. Ladies and Gentlemen, Rick Stafford, the True Aquaman.
1. Who are you and where are you from?
My Name is Rick Stafford and I am originally from Fort Knox, KY. and Then from 14-18 from Port Orange, FL. The Last 6 Years have been living in Orlando.
2. How did you discover cosplay?
I have been a huge Halloween fan all my life so I always tried to take dressing up for the holiday to the max. I have done fur glued to my face werewolf at age 8, to full costume and make-up KISS band member at 13, Face blasted away leaving the metal ecto-skeleton terminator at 15 to Hellraiser’s Pin Head at age 17. Then Life got in the way and I walked away from dressing up for almost 15 years. I got involved again when my Son was diagnosed with Leukemia and became obsessed with Star Wars while in the hospital and felt his cancer battle was his personal Jedi Trials. I donned the robes of a Jedi Master and took on the role to help keep my Son, Christian, from having to deal with the reality that he was dying. After he died in my arms, I was forever changed. My Son’s Celebration of Life was attending by members of the 501st and Rebel Legion as his honor guard. After the service, I was asked to don armor and join their ranks. I took 3 months to build a kit of Clone Trooper armor that was presented to me as a gift from the Legion and Became a full fledged member of both groups in time to work the opening of Revenge of The Sith as my first official costuming event. I Then went on to develop over 40 different costumes in the 9 years since.
3. You are obviously a die-hard Aquaman since you cosplay him so well. What is it about Arthur that draws you to him?
Arthur Curry and I have so much in common that a lot of people make jokes that the character is based on me…LOL Seriously, I have been a water baby all my life. My own parents told tales of how I jumped into the deep end of the pool without any coxing and sometimes even without supervision. I had a pool growing up and spent more and more time swimming around underwater holding my breath longer and longer. at 17 I got SCUBA certified and today I am a Master Diver, Divemaster, and SCUBA Instructor with 3 different agencies including one for Military and Law Enforcement Divers. I am an honest to God, card carrying Aquanaut as I have lived in several underwater habitats. I worked for Disney World at The Living Seas in Epcot as a Shark Tank Diver for 13 years. I currently have over 5000 hours logged underwater. And on a sober note, Arthur and I both know the pain of loosing a Son. Physically, I have the natural look of Aquaman, I have a fit physique, naturally blond hair and blue eyes. A true story that happened to me a few years ago at Mega Con in Orlando, FL. I was leaving the convention floor to head back to my room and I was stopped by an old lady who asked if I would mind taking a photo with her husband. I told her I would be honored. I was wearing my New 52 Aquaman and so I stood next to this frail older gentleman and struck my best hero pose with my trident. After his wife had taken 3-4 pictures with her disposable film camera, I began to walk away and was stopped as the old man gently grabbed my arm and leaned in to say something. What he told me absolutely floored me. What he said was “You are exactly as I imagined you would look like.” “My name is Nick Cardy, and I invented Aquaman.” Nick was at the convention as part of a panel of Golden aged comic writers and artists. To this day, that is one of the biggest honors I have ever gotten. The creator of a character that I love told me that I am a walking and talking true life representation of his imagination. LIFE ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!
4. You are known as the True Aquaman, but do you ever cosplay other characters?
As I stated earlier, I have over 40 costumes. Here is a partial list:
1. Aquaman (Classic, New 52, Smallvile version, Blackest Night and now King Aquaman Leather Armored version)
2. Solid Resin 85lbs armored MK3 Ironman
3. Various Jedi and Clone Trooper Variations
4. Capt. Malcolm from FireFly
5. Spartan from 300
6. Prof. Snape From Harry Potter
7. Ezio from Assassin’s Creed Revelations
8. James Bond (Daniel Craig versions)
9. Battlestar Galactica Viper Pilot BDU uniform version
10. Various Pirates including Jack Sparrow
11. David 8 from Prometheus
12. Havok and Angle from the X-Men
5. What other hobbies do you have besides cosplay?
Well SCUBA Diving is an obvious one. I also like long range shooting and used to be really good at archery. I am an avid swimmer with 6-8 miles a week spent in the pool. I love riding roller coasters and trying different extreme activities at least once. And finally, I have been doing a lot of Obstacle Mud Races over the past couple of years since I retired from running marathons and triathlons after I completed my 2nd Ironman Triathlon a few years ago.
6. Do you prefer photo shoots or going to cons to show off your new cosplays?
That’s a hard one as there is a third option that I prefer over both of those two combined. I prefer doing my Cosplay for Charity work, where I get to bring smiles to those that need them the most. I would follow that with going to the cons so that I can interact with my peers and finally photo shoots. Unless I can be in a unique environment or work with a photographer that can do some great background manipulation in post, photo shoots begin to look the same and I want to maintain the “WOW” factor for those I will be sharing my pictures with.
7. I notice you do a lot of shoots with the Faces of Freya, have you ever done shoots with other cosplayers? Is there someone you would love to do a photo shoot with?
Well, Freya and I have gotten a good feel for one another and work really well by playing off each other’s strengths, so we will always try to find new ways to make images work together. I have worked with lots of other cosplayers/costumers for group shoots like Danny Kelly(Superman), Margie Cox (Bond Girl), Ryan Frey (Thor). There is no one person, more than characters I would love to shoot with. I would like to have a good Black Manta or an Orm aka Ocean Master to do some awesome battle shots with my Aquaman. I would like to shoot with a Bond bad guy. And I think it would be cool to shoot a classroom scene from Hogwarts with a class full of robe wearing students as I play Prof. Snape.
8. What are your plans for the future?
I am looking at a few new variations on Aquaman and I am looking to do a new lighter version of my Ironman suit. Once the new Star Wars movies start coming out, I might look to add to my Star Wars costume collection and I have a few surprises that I am keeping close to the vest for now. :-)
9. Where can my readers see more examples of your work?
I try to keep my fan pages updated daily so you can follow my exploits there:
On FaceBook:
The True Aquaman
Fitness Geekery
and on Instagram:
Aquaman70
and on Twitter:
@thekingaquaman
10. If you had to pick one Aquaman cosplay, which one is your favorite?
King Aquaman is by far my best show stopper and I love to watch fans come up and inspect the intricate detail of the leather craftsmanship that went into it’s fabrication by Sam at Prince Armory. But I am a big fan of my New 52 version as it shows the work and dedication I put into myself for honestly portraying the look of the character that fans see in the comics.
