Cosplayer Anre’ van Rooyen as Imperator Furiosa from Mad Max: Road Fury

A Judge, an Imperator, but First a Cosplayer – Anre’

Cosplay Name: Anre’ van Rooyen

Location: The Gold Mine Dumps of Johannesburg, South Africa

Character: Imperator Furiosa, Mad Max

It’s the kind of morning Cosplayers and photographers dream of; especially when you wake up at 4AM to get the gold mine dumps of Johannesburg.  The light was golden; the clouds lined with silver and the mine dumps, thankfully, abandoned.

It was the perfect location to team up with Anre’ van Rooyen and Rolene Byleveld (Axefield Cosplay) to pull off their latest cosplays from Mad Max: Road Fury. Van Rooyen’s furious Furiosa is the last Cosplay many would expect her to play.

“Furiosa – I saw a character that had so much pain and fury. I feel a lot of people don’t take me seriously because I have this very bubbly character. So I did it,” says Van Rooyen.

Cosplayer Van Rooyen on the gold mine dumps of Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo by Jay Caboz

Having grown up in a family of science fiction fanatics it’s no wonder Van Rooyen took to Cosplayer like a fish to water.

“I started Cosplaying about 6 years ago. I went as Tank Girl in 2009. In 2010, I remember meeting the first group of cosplayers. I remember saying this was a thing. I can dress up as the characters I like and run around as them and nobody thinks it’s messed up. As a kid you can dress up, as soon as you hit puberty you can’t dress up anymore. Or it’s forbidden, unless it’s Halloween,” says Van Rooyen.

“I taught myself how to sew. I would sneak behind my mother and try. She didn’t want me to use it without her watching over me,” says Van Rooyen.

But there is more to Van Rooyen’s hobby than playing the characters she loves; there is careful observation of the community she thrives in.

“We’re between the golden age and silver age of Cosplay. In the rest of the world, the silver age of Cosplay has died out; people are very rarely wowed by what they see. However, in South Africa, we’re all still learning and experimenting, trying to find local solutions for international problems. We’re still getting called freaks; we’re still being called weird. But most of all, we are still growing,” says Van Rooyen.

And is the community in its own way unique?

“There is nothing unique about what South Africans want to Cosplay. There are no South Africa characters that people recognize easily. No one will understand. I think we have a crucible of culture. Everything that’s a fad we catch onto and then it fuels.”

“With cosplay six years ago there were 20 people standing awkwardly at rage. I think we are still growing. If you go to American conventions the standard is mind blowing. You get Tayler Barter Kinpatsu who is on that level and then you have Cosplayers who are just starting out, who go to costume store and hire a suit,” says Van Rooyen.

What makes South Africans unique is that they are resourceful says Van Rooyen. Her case in point is a tight budget. Products overseas come cheap but in South Africa you need to look everywhere.

“90% of what you see here is from hospice,” she says.

Van Rooyen: Mostly second-hand, but 100% committed to Cosplay.

Cosplay Van Rooyen in her home in Centurion, Pretoria.