(electronic whir)
How do you define what a hero is?
I think a hero is someone who embodies a positive idea.
They're out there among us.
Real life heroes hiding in plain sight.
Fighting the good fight and making the world
a little better for all of us.
Heroes, they don't always have the easy life,
it wouldn't be a great story if it was that way.
Each week IGN will change
the life of an every day hero.
(excited screaming)
using professional costumers, makeup and effects artists
we will transform well deserving fans into
their favorite characters.
Dreams do come true, in hero makeover.
My name's Kirsten Passmore I'm from Houston Texas.
For some weird reason people think that having a wheelchair
means that you're unapproachable, but if you cover
it up with a costume, if you have a shell over it
they're suddenly like oh so what do you like to watch?
I'm like, I like to watch Doctor Who, how about you?
Brett was at work one day, and he got an email that
there was a baby girl on a special needs list
and just respond if you're interested.
I immediately responded back yes, absolutely
we're interested in this baby, this little Vietnamese lady
came around the corner with my little angel this tiny thing
and just these big eyes staring up it's like
oh my god it's my girl!
She didn't move a whole lot when she--
We shoulda known something was up.
We shoulda known something, but we had never
had a kid before so we didn't know
how much they were supposed to move.
I just didn't walk like the other babes,
and so when I was two I was diagnosed cerebral palsy.
You see things and you grow and learn and do things
being the father of a special needs child that
other people don't ever get the chance to see or do.
There were a lot of things that set Kirsten apart,
but the one thing that her and her dad have always
been able to do is go to a movie.
Once she was in love with Star Wars
it just skyrocketed from there.
What I love about super heroes is how they're able
to tackle some really potent issues in like society today.
When you watch a show, we feel for those characters,
we picture ourselves you know walking,
running aside them fighting off aliens.
There's a piece of us in that.
I knew Comicpalooza, that's the first one we went to
was a couple weeks away, I said Kirsten is this something
you're at all interested in?
And she's like, sci-fi characters, heck yeah!
It was really cool, there's a whole bunch of people
and it's really loud it's just one ginormous family.
If you can share that special experience with people
it's the best feeling in the world.
The name of our group is CosAbility, Cosplaying disAbility
and then possibility too.
It developed from being on the other side of the coin
I guess, you know you keep finding these people with
disabilities give them some friends that they can talk to
that can relate to what it's like to be different.
Kirsten, congratulations, IGN has chosen you to
transform on camera at Stan Lee's LA Comicon.
(excited scream)
Time to honor an every day hero
Kirsten Passmore has been selected for a hero makeover
because of the fearless work that she does for her community
IGN brought Kirsten and parents from Houston
to Los Angeles for her makeover.
Transformations are a part of the super hero lore.
Clark Kent into Superman, Bruce Wayne into Batman,
and now Kirsten gets her own transformation as she
is the mastermind behind CosAbility, a non profit
dedicated to empowering cosplayers with disabilities.
I'm really excited to go, apparently it's ginormous
but I have no idea what to really expect.
Special effects makeup artist Keaghlan Ashley
from the hit sci-fi show Face Off is adding prosthetics
and makeup to Kirsten to make her transformation
into Davros as dramatic as possible.
Are you excited to get transformed today?
Yes!
We're gonna get you transformed into Davros.
The character that I portray is a man named Davros,
so Davros was actually really really famous in the classic
Who series but they reintroduced him during
the 10th doctor's run, and I'm like oh that guy's
in a wheelchair, this is really cool.
I have no idea how this is going to feel, when it looks
so cool but I'm also like really nervous.
My daughter is being made to look like Davros
from the Doctor Who series, with the sunken eyes,
and the third eye in the forehead,
and I've never seen anything like this.
And I'm just gonna glue it down to her forehead,
and basically give her that third eye effect.
When I heard makeup I thought you know, a blush
and eye liner I had no idea we were doing Davros makeup
but I love it.
Basically he's like attached to the wheelchair life
support system and just chose to implant
a robotic eye in his forehead.
You love it?
Yes this is so cool!
We're gonna go in with an air brush and go head
and paint some of the eye area, do some contouring with it
that way the focus is on the third eye.
It really doesn't matter if your disability is
physical or mental or emotional, this world can
be a hard place, and there's hurt and there's pain
and there's no costume that can change that,
but the costume just makes that ride just
a little bit easier.
Alright Kirsten go ahead and open your eyes
and see yourself as Davros.
Oh my gosh! (dramatic music)
This looks super awesome.
Doctor we meet again. (speaking in a scratchy voice)
(laughter)
I'm Davros from Doctor Who.
I like this character because he doesn't let his disability
stop him from his plans of world domination.
This science slave.
I think I look pretty evil, it's really awesome.
(upbeat music)
I love it because, you get to play a villain,
it's a really cool interesting costume,
that people don't necessarily perceive as a wheelchair.
Let's go to the LA Comicon, let's leave our depression
and let's leave our anxiety, and when we walk through
this door it is an completely different world.
Difference is celebrated.
(upbeat music)
I plan on soon.
It feels amazing to be able to look like a character
that you've seen on TV.
So we're at LA Comicon, it feels really crazy
and really really fun, you're surrounded by a whole
bunch of people in different costumes, representing
their different fandoms.
My favorite are the kids who, they're just so into it
and they're just like ah super hero or ah super villain!
It's so much more real to them.
She's developed this habit where she caries stickers
with her, if a kid is a little intimidated she'll say
do you want a sticker?
Thank you.
And one for you.
Sticker!
And as soon as they see the sticker, they come right
over to her and then she's like this is my wheelchair
have you ever seen a wheelchair before?
I can't walk like you do, and she just comes alive
any time there are kids around her.
If I can make one person's life better,
that's all there is to it, make people happy,
help them to make other people happy
and just you know, spread it.
Our mission is to teach people that even though
you have a disability, you can use that in your costumes
in your life and not let that stop you,
but in fact have it help improve the quality
of your life, if I wasn't in this wheelchair I wouldn't
be here talking to y'all right now.
What cosplaying was, and how supportive that group was
I figured that would be useful for the special need
community so that they can boost their self confidence.
She's just this amazing young woman and she has a lot
of friends who are intimidated about whether they're in
walkers or wheelchairs, and she wants to help them
and so she's able to do that, through CosAbility.
Some people you know they don't feel too comfortable
in their own skin but the minute they dawn that mask
it's like, I'm another person now and so they'll
become a lot more outgoing, that can actually help
them break down and be like, maybe they'll like me
outside of my costume as a person.
So just exposing them to that positive influence.
I'm always wantin to see what we can do to help her
do what she needs to do to be successful in life
and CosAbility is part of that and these cosplay
costumes and all these things are part of that.
I wrote in my journal the other day I said you know
Lord thank you, for giving me this child.
I love her, more than I ever thought I could love anything.
She's you know you asked Kirsten earlier
who her hero was well, ask me.
Whose your hero?
It's her.
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transformations of everyday heroes.