Interview with Alexander "AlexCroft" Stepanov and Anastasia "LaraRaider" Zelenova

Almost a month has passed since the last Igromir, and its echoes are still heard online. Some new photographs are uploaded, someone writes a report, a vote for something exhibition-related takes place, or an interview with exhibition cosplayers suddenly appears.[cut] Everyone who attended the exhibition simply could not miss something related to Lara Croft: neither the booth with the presentation nor the three cosplayers accompanied by photographers. One creative duo is well-known among veterans of the exhibition – A Nastasia Zelenova and Alexander Stepanov. Anastasia is a ‘purebred’ Lara Croft: until recently, her resume mostly featured the famous tomb raider, but soon we will see her in the roles of other heroines. Read on for more about this and much else.

Anastasia at Igromir 2011 in the image of Lara Croft from the new Tomb Raider game.

Hello! Today we have a lot more people at the interview compared to last time, so let’s introduce ourselves to avoid getting confused. Please introduce yourselves, who you are, and what roles you each have in your creative duo.

Alexander: Alexander Stepanov aka ‘AlexCroft,’ Organizer, costumer, photographer, etc…

Anastasia: My name is Anastasia Zelenova. I have been doing cosplay since the end of 2008.

What do you do in your free time away from cosplay and photography? Work, study?

Alexander: Of course, there’s work, chatting with friends, and of course, Love… You can’t do without it.

Anastasia: Many are surprised to learn my age. I am currently finishing school. The final year is the hardest, so I devote most of my efforts to my studies. Besides that, I actively engage in sports, hang out with friends, and explore interesting places in my city. I generally love an active lifestyle.

Nastya, have your classmates seen your work?

Anastasia: Unfortunately, yes (laughs)

Why ‘unfortunately’?

Anastasia: At the beginning of my journey, I faced a lot of negativity. They simply didn’t understand, even ridiculed me. But later, when my photos became professional and reached a higher level, many realized what’s what, and their attitude towards me changed immediately.

It seems your classmates were shortsighted.

Anastasia: Well, it wasn't just classmates. Fortunately, there were people who supported me, were interested, and helped. So my journey as a cosplayer was quite difficult, but I didn’t break and continued to move forward.

That’s good to hear. The result, as they say, is evident. How and under what circumstances did you meet? Who reached out to whom, and when did it happen?

Alexander: Our meeting happened on a social network. I invited Anastasia to play a double role in my project.

Anastasia: Yes, I recall our meeting with Alex with a smile – he negatively commented on my photo as Lara. Well, back then the photos were indeed terrible: a homey background, clothes from the closet, absence of weapons and other character elements. But later, as I understood, he began to follow my photos, and after one of my videos where I was performing stunts, he became interested in me. That’s how our acquaintance began, which significantly changed my life.

Nastya, why did you choose Lara Croft as your first character? Why not another game heroine, say, Jessica Cannon from SiN: Episodes?

Anastasia: My choice of character was obvious. She’s an ideal, a beautiful, smart, brave, and independent woman. Lara is very close to my spirit. Because of this, I was able to change myself and get closer to that ideal. Moreover, I love traveling and adventures, just like her.

You must have traversed the whole planet by now?

Anastasia: Not yet, there's still a lot ahead. I have visited Egypt, Turkey, went on a small tour around Europe. I really want to visit Thailand, China, and Italy in the future.

Impressive. Be sure to bring back some artifacts. Back to Lara, how did each of you first get acquainted with the Tomb Raider series?

Alexander: The first game that was installed on my computer when I bought it; perhaps that was destiny.

Anastasia: My first game was Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. A gloomy game with an interesting plot, but unfortunately, with terrible controls.

Which part did you like the most? Which do you consider a classic, so to speak?

Alexander: Actually, I am more of a fan of the movies than the games, but from the games, I like Tomb Raider Anniversary.

Anastasia: I felt like a real tomb raider in the classic parts and in Tomb Raider: Legend, which is currently my favorite game in the series.

What do you think about the new part?

Alexander: It seems to me that the game will be worthy of everyone's attention. Judging by my communication with the developers, they are preparing an undeniable hit.

Anastasia: The new part is like a breath of fresh air. All the previous parts of Tomb Raider showed us that Lara is an unbeatable tomb raider, capable of overcoming any difficulties. She is fearless, calm, strong-willed, and doesn’t fear obstacles. In the new part, everything is different: Croft is still a girl who is just about to experience all the ‘delights’ of adventures. She is young, inexperienced, and not yet searching for priceless relics, but is simply trying to survive. That is her main goal.

Do you play anything other than Lara Croft? Do you have time to play at all?

Alexander: Of course, I play. In Life.

Anastasia: Besides Tomb Raider, I also enjoy games from the Prince of Persia series, American McGee’s Alice, and Need for Speed.

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How did the idea of starting to engage in cosplay come to you, Nastya? What prompted you?

Anastasia: Cosplay attracted me precisely because you can completely transform into your favorite character. To feel their character and behavior in any given situation and, importantly, to become externally similar to them. A cosplayer doesn’t just wear the character’s clothes and goes to take photos; they fully immerse themselves in the role to convey the character’s emotions and actions as accurately as possible. It’s an indescribable feeling for every cosplayer.

Selene from the movie “Underworld”

Have you ever wanted to become an actress in theater or film?

Anastasia: Yes, of course, I wanted to. Almost all girls dream about it. But I chose a different profession; I want to study to become a translator, and then we’ll see, life is an unpredictable thing. Who knows, maybe someone will notice me and invite me to act.

Do you think this is a difficult profession? Morally, financially, physically?

Anastasia: It may surprise you, but cosplay is quite an expensive undertaking, and unfortunately, we don’t have any income from it. It’s very difficult to find everything needed for the cosplay of a particular character, and it takes a lot of time and effort. If in the future I could earn money through cosplay or at least cover my costume costs, that would be good. So, financially, it’s quite tough, especially without a constant income. For me, cosplay is an emotional release, where you can unleash all your emotions and become someone else. Therefore, many cosplayers have very different preferences in choosing characters. For Lara Croft, I worked a lot on myself physically, so it wasn’t easy for me. To overcome myself, my habits, and change, but I don’t stop at what I’ve achieved and keep trying to improve myself.

How many Laras have you cosplayed?

Anastasia: I have quite a few Lara images in my arsenal. Croft from the movie, from the games, and even a bit of improvisation from comics. We’ve done nearly everything, from the classics to the new game. Some costumes definitely need adjustments. We held photo sessions in all seasons. Oh, those winter photos.

Was it cold?

Anastasia: Well, not without it, but since I moved a lot, it wasn’t that noticeable.

The Doll from the movie “The Uninvited.”

Recently, you appeared as The Doll from the film “The Uninvited.” Does this mean that we will soon see many characters in your performance?

Anastasia: Yes, recently I’ve been thinking about cosplaying other characters. I want to fully reveal myself. The Doll from “The Uninvited” is completely different, but I love her as a character as well.

What cosplays can we expect in the near future and beyond?

Anastasia: I have plans for cosplays of no less popular games and anime, for example, Bleach and League of Legends. I hope I have enough strength and time to bring them to life.

Elena Gilbert from the TV series “The Vampire Diaries.”

How do you work on a new costume?

Anastasia: The process of creating a costume is always very complex and meticulous. Some things we do with Alex ourselves, while for others, we have to buy them. It’s not easy to find everything needed.

Are there challenges in creating an image? You know, like a difficult costume, complicated makeup…

Anastasia: I believe that every cosplay has its difficulties, whether it's complicated makeup or bulky additional parts of the costume itself.

Cosplayers of Lara Croft at Igromir 2011. From left to right: Tatyana Sochivets, Maria Hanna, Anastasia Zelenova.

At this Igromir, there were as many as three Laras. What did you think of the other two cosplayers?

Alexander: I was lucky enough to meet only Tatyana Sochivets. I didn’t manage to see the third girl, Maria Hanna, since on the fourth day of the exhibition I developed a fever, and I came at the end of the day to help Anastasia pack up.

Anastasia: Three Laras together is a strength. Tanya Sochivets came to us from Ukraine. She has been cosplaying Lara Croft since 2005 and is still loyal only to her image. Excellent equipment, immersion in the character, and choice of locations for filming always excite me in Tanya’s photographs. Masha Hanna is no less good. She doesn’t have a lot of experience in cosplay, but she is undoubtedly a beautiful girl who embodies the image of Lara Croft perfectly.

Did you find common ground with them? Was there any ‘territorial division’ or anything like that?

Alexander: Of course, we found common ground. We have long grown out of the era of wars and territorial divisions. I’d say more: Tanya is a very nice and smiley girl in real life. I hope to see her at the next Igromir in 2012.

Anastasia: No, by no means, there was no division, everything was excellent. Finally, we all met in real life. We took pictures together and chatted. I see Masha quite often as we are involved in the same project, while I met Tanya for the first time, and I’m very happy about that. I hope we will see each other more often.

Right after Igromir, a photo of your cosplay as the new Lara was published on the official Tomb Raider blog. Did it feel good for your work to be appreciated at such a high level?

Anastasia: Yes, of course, I was very pleased. It’s one of the highest accolades for me.

Have you had any other publications in the press or on any major websites?

Anastasia: Unfortunately, not many. After Igromir 2010, I managed to feature in a program on MTV, which certainly delighted me. An interview with Madison, after which I was interviewed for the website ‘Thank you, Eva!’. That’s great.

You can confidently add this interview to your collection. Where can we see your Lara besides Igromir? Any festivals, other exhibitions?

Anastasia: Yes, I attended some festivals: Toguchi, Ichiharu, and Anistage. I really enjoyed it. It was especially nice to win for the first time at the festival in the nomination ‘Best Character Presentation’. Thank you to everyone who helped me there, especially Alex and my boyfriend Vlad, who actively supported me in the performance program. They were very supportive of me there.

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Alexander, as I understand it, you are working on the fan film ‘The Power of Light’, right?

Alexander: Currently, the ‘The Power of Light’ project has been put on hold. I wanted to create something interesting that fans would support, but unfortunately, they didn’t show interest, and everything got stretched out. Moreover, there were disagreements within the team; the views on the project were different, and I decided to cut all ties with the people I was working with on the project. The guys are great for not scattering in different directions and staying together; now they are working on their project about the adventures of young Lara Croft. I wish them success.

Anastasia: Unfortunately, our project stopped filming due to internal disputes. I continue to participate in another project. I won’t reveal anything for now.

That’s quite sad. But the project is alive, right?

Alexander: Yes, I'm currently preparing for filming.

How many actors were involved in the project?

Alexander: At that time, more than ten actors were involved, along with a team of 10 airsoft players, a whole army.

Nastya, in the videos for ‘The Power of Light’ and in the photos from Igromir, you can see how you perform various stunts, strikes, and other acrobatic feats. Tell me, are they difficult for you or do you have a certain level of physical training that allows you to perform them without hindrance?

Anastasia: Dasha Bogachyova trained me for the fight scenes. She actively works with me on my physical fitness, and I am very grateful to her for that. Dasha taught me a lot. I learned to do stunts back in dance, thanks to my teachers who taught me this in childhood.

What stage is the film currently in, and when can we expect it to be on our monitors?

Alexander: The film is currently in a reboot stage; we found a new director, and within the next year, we will finalize the film concept and hope to make a statement about whether we are reviving or finally closing the project by spring. Regarding timelines, I think it’s too early to discuss since fan projects can take a very long time for well-known reasons.

Well then, good luck with the filming! All we can do is wait and hope that all disagreements will be resolved, and we will finally see the film about the tomb raider! Thank you for the interview!

*Photographs are taken from the dA albums of Alexander and Anastasia.*

Special thanks to kavem and Surt for proofreading the material.