Popular cosplayer ‘Ormeli’ cast as Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite

Anna Moleva, better known to the gaming community as "Ormeli", has been announced as the "official face of Elizabeth" in Irrational Games upcoming title BioShock Infinite.

"We were so amazed by her dedication and her resemblance to Elizabeth that we decided to ask her if she’d like to be involved in helping bring Elizabeth to life in our box, our key art and our upcoming television ad," explained Irrational Games' Ken Levin on the company blog.

Moleva's journey into cosplaying as Elizabeth wasn't an easy one, however. "The thing is that I first saw Liz as she appeared initially: a different hairdo, a different costume. Then game developers changed the way she looked. I put away the fabrics I had selected and was like, “Okay, no problem.”"

After planning her second costume, Irrational changed Elizabeth's appearance again.

She added: "I remember pacing around my apartment, furious: “Dear developers! How can one cosplay a character whose appearance is constantly changing?!”"

"As soon as I saw her, I knew I HAD to do it! I love the first two parts of BioShock, so ever since Infinite was announced I followed the promotion campaign. Then when Liz’s appearance was finalized – and I saw what I think is a remarkable resemblance between us – I as a cosplayer couldn’t just ignore it," Moleva explained.

"It was really hard, because cosplay isn’t just about recreating the appearance. It’s about acting, portraying the character as a whole. At the moment, we knew very little – almost nothing – about her as a character (in fact, we don’t know much now, either). So I’m really glad that everything worked out for me," she concluded.

Irrational Games recently revealed the front and back cover of BioShock Infinite which has drawn sharp criticism from fans. What do you think of it?