Darla Eliza loves becoming someone else, especially if that means showing her take on popular characters from Harley Quinn to Ghost Spider. She sat down with us to discuss her passions, crying at Deadpool, and her dream cosplay that will easily go viral if she’s able to pull it off.
Playboy: So, to start us off, did you enjoy school growing up?
Darla Eliza: I enjoyed school for the academic part of things. I love to learn. I think the day you stop learning is the day you stop living. But I loved to be involved in my extracurriculars. I did gymnastics, I golfed. I was a part of the student body. I did a bunch of other extracurriculars when it came to vocational work and going straight into the blue collar workforce. And so I put a lot of time and energy into my academics, whether that be middle school, high school or college. And I like to learn, but I didn’t really have that many friends growing up. I was very focused and career driven from a very young age, and I think that gave me that business mindset that I have right now.
Playboy: What are you passionate about?
Darla: Well, I recently went through a very large life change that kind of hit me head on and I didn’t expect. So I’m honestly, genuinely trying to figure that out again. I realized that I kind of lost myself to the people around me for probably the past decade of my life. And I’m trying to figure out, you know, what do I like? What am I passionate about? Who am I aside from the people who I love around me? But I love Broadway, I love to paint. I like to sing karaoke in my house. I love to go to theme parks and explore nature. I like to fish and I like to go on hikes. Hopefully, next time I’m in the California area, I can go on a hike, but I’m really genuinely trying to figure that out again. It might take a while, but I’m excited to see what that is.
Playboy: What was the first thing you dreamed of achieving?
Darla: When I was younger, I wanted to do musical theater, that was kind of like my passion. But then I kind of didn’t give that up, but I thought more realistically, and my goal in high school was “I’m going to work for Disney.” When I graduated, I got a degree in political science with a concentration in journalism, because I wanted to do Good Morning America. That was like my end game. I was like, “I’m going to be on TV. I’m going to do the news, I’m gonna “this, that the other thing,” and I thought the best way to do that was to get my foot in the door with Disney. Because Disney now is like the umbrella that owns ABC, Marvel and Star Wars and all those other big brands.
And so I was like, “I’m gonna work for the parks, and then I’m gonna work for Good Morning America.” Well, I got the job, and I did entertainment at Walt Disney World from 2017 to 2020 and I was pretty content with doing that. Then 2020 happened, and another curve ball hit me, and I had to figure out what to do. And that was kind of the catalyst for the whole social media career.
Playboy: What book or movie makes you deeply happy?
Darla: I’m a comic book nerd. I read them growing up, I sat and watched all the scifi and superhero movies. All of those have a soft spot in my heart. But I think the most recent movie I saw was Deadpool and Wolverine. And growing up, I was raised on all the classic early 2000s stuff like the X-Men movies—that was kind of like me and my dad’s thing.
At the very end of the movie, not only was it filled to the brim with cameos of people that I completely forgot about, but at the very end they had a montage of a Green Day song. And it was just flashbacks of all the old movies and how they’ve aged and how everybody’s grown up together. I bawled my eyes out, it broke me. But all those kind of nerdy comic book movies are always going to be special.
Playboy: What are your turn ons/turn offs?
Darla: I really have come to terms with the fact that sexuality is a spectrum. Growing up, it was very hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I had that attraction towards pretty much all kinds of people. It didn’t necessarily have to do anything with what they looked like, but how they acted. Confidence. If someone was sure of themselves, has a good moral compass, personality, humor…it’s more than what’s on the inside than on the outside.
I love a man who’s in touch with this feminine side. I realized that recently, but definitely someone who’s not afraid to show you off and isn’t afraid to be vulnerable. As far as physical traits come…I’m 4’11 and about 90 pounds, soaking wet, and so everyone kind of looks at me, and they’re like, “Oh, you know, go for, go for a shorter guy. Go for someone who’s more your speed.” I can’t help it. I love myself a big boy. It is very difficult for me to not see a 200 plus pound man that’s about six foot two, six foot three, and not get butterflies. So I’m still trying to figure it out. Definitely confidence, though, above all.
Playboy: What would make you ghost a potential love interest?
Darla: Oh, I’ve done that recently a couple times. Definitely being way too vocal about your … I understand that political affiliation and religion is so important to some people, but if that’s all you’re going to talk about, I don’t want to talk to you. And someone who can’t find joy in little things. If you’re going to be a pessimist all the time, I’m not about that. If you’re going to waste energy on things that don’t benefit you or put you towards your goals, I don’t want to deal with that either. And just if someone’s way too cocky, kind of toxic. I pick up on vibes pretty well. If I get the ick and I get the ick fast, the second that kicks, I’m gone.
Playboy: What’s the title of your autobiography?
Darla: Oh lord, I’m gonna need like, five to eight weeks to figure that out. It’s kind of like a roller coaster. There’s a lot of pieces and parts of my story and my lore that I really don’t talk about. I’m very vulnerable and open with, you know, mental health struggles and different ailments and struggles that I deal with on a day to day basis. But there has been a lot of things that have happened to me from birth to now that I don’t talk about a lot. And I think a lot of people would be shocked and surprised to kind of see where I’ve come from and what I’ve been through and places and things and people who have shaped me into who I am. Also kind of surprised that I have a decent head on my shoulders after everything. It would definitely be a roller coaster. It would be a good read. I know that for sure.
Playboy: What would you say is your superpower?
Darla: Oh, so, I always say this, because I get asked this question pretty often. I think it’s…So I love Mystique. She’s one of the X Men, and she’s able to turn into other people, like physically, shape shift. But she’s also very good at mimicking people’s energies and making people like her.
And I don’t necessarily do that as a manipulation tactic, but I think it is a really important life skill to have to be able to seamlessly work your way into environments that will push you forward or to make friends or to have a better relationship with your family. So I can shape shift in a lot of ways we all know from the cosplays. But not only that, but just like socially and emotionally as well, while also being, you know,true to who I am and not ever sacrificing that.
Playboy: What inspired you to get into cosplay?
Darla: Growing up, I couldn’t leave the house without a costume on. So from a very young age, I was like that, and I always like to express myself. I would always change up my hair. I buzzed my hair back in high school. I was very expressive with how I decided to have my kind of avatar look. But it got to the point where I loved to change. I like to dress up. I like to do cosplays with characters that I identify with. But I also realized that I can’t shave my head every couple weeks. So [cosplay] was a way that I could feed into that urge of constant change and experimentation, while also kind of not feeding into mania, if you will.
Playboy: What’s your favorite character you’ve ever cosplayed?
Darla: So the new Spider-Man 2 game came out. And the second I played through the game, I saw MJ symbiote screen—come on. And I was like, “I need that on my body right now.” But the game just came out, and I had, like, four weeks until I had a convention. I was like, “Okay, well, no one’s gonna, no one’s gonna make it. I can’t buy it off of anybody. I have no other option than to make it myself.” That was actually the first cosplay I was like, “I’m gonna make it. I’m gonna 3D print the facial. I’m gonna paint it myself. I’m gonna get the hair, I’m gonna tailor it, I’m gonna sew the costume. I’m gonna cast it and mold it to my proportions.”
I went balls to the wall with it, and it was—I don’t want to say it performed well—but it was received with such praise. People saw it, and they’re like, “We can tell how much time and energy that you put into this, and it looks great.” And it made me proud of putting all the time and energy into something that I’ve never done before. I have a couple other cosplays that I am working on that it will take me a while. It’s just such an expensive hobby. [People ask] “Why don’t you make more cosplays?” And I’m like, “Because I don’t have 28 hours right now to work on something, or $1,500 to drop on something. I’m sorry!”
Playboy: What’s your dream cosplay?
Darla: So I watched Face Off growing up, that show on Sci Fi where they did special effects, makeup and whatnot. And so I would love—and I don’t know who I have to contact to help me out with this—but there’s so many like the prosthetic kinds of cosplays that I would want to do. My number one right now, that I really want to do within the year, is a genderbent version of Jim Carrey’s Mask.
Playboy: Oh my goodness, you would kill that!
Darla: I just don’t know—I don’t know where the hell to get the teeth. If I’m gonna do it, I want to do it right. So I have to find all the pieces, the professionals that can help me out, and then hopefully I can bring that dream to life someday.
Darla Eliza is on The Playboy Club. Talk to her now.
