Aubrey Christina Plaza is an American actress, comedian, and producer who was born on June 26, 1984. She appeared in the FX drama series Legion (2017–2019) in addition to playing April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation from 2009–2015. She appeared in the HBO anthology series The White Lotus' second season in 2022, for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe Award. In 2023, Time magazine listed her as one of the top 100 global influencers.
Plaza earned her first main part in Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) after beginning her acting career at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater practicing improv and sketch comedy. Additionally, she has acted in the movies Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), The To Do List (2013), Life After Beth (2014), Child's Play (2019), and Happiest Season (2020). The Little Hours (2017), Ingrid Goes West (2017), Black Bear (2020), and Emily the Criminal (2022) are among the movies Plaza has both produced and appeared in.
David Plaza, a financial expert, and Bernadette Plaza, an attorney, welcomed Plaza into the world in Wilmington, Delaware. Natalie and Renee, her younger sisters, share her.
The song "Aubrey" by Bread inspired the name Plaza. Ismael, her paternal grandfather, emigrated to the US mainland when he was 17 years old. He was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Her mother's ancestry is both Irish and English. She has additionally acknowledged having Taino ancestry.
According to Plaza, "I'm half-Puerto Rican. I do, however, have a sizable family and numerous cousins in Puerto Rico. She was raised in a "very Catholic household" as a child. In 2002, she received her diploma from the all-girls Catholic Ursuline Academy. She presided over the student government in high school and took part in Wilmington Drama League shows. She graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 2006 after majoring in film.
From 2006 to 2015, I worked in parks and recreation.
Plaza worked as an NBC page and completed numerous internships. Since 2004, Plaza has given improv and sketch comedy performances at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She has appeared at the Laugh Factory and The Improv and performed stand-up comedy as well.
Plaza played Robin Gibney in ESPN's Mayne Street and The Jeannie Tate Show, both web shows. In the first episode of "Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz" on Funny or Die, she made an appearance.
Career
She portrayed Daisy, Seth Rogen's love interest, in Judd Apatow's 2009 film Funny People. She made an appearance in Derrick Comedy's Mystery Team and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, both of which made their Sundance 2009 debuts. She shared the screen with Jason Bateman and Will Arnett in a College Humor short.
From 2009 through 2015, she portrayed April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation. She was hailed as one of the show's breakout characters and got unanimous acclaim for her portrayal of the deadpan employee during the whole run of the program.
The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles hosted "A Night of 140 Tweets: A Celebrity Tweetathon for Haiti" on March 12, 2010, which was organized by Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Ben Stiller, and Mike Rosenstein.
She appeared in Portlandia in 2011. In 2011, Plaza made an appearance as a guest judge on The Next Food Network Star for a roast episode. She made an appearance in WTF with Marc Maron episode 199. Additionally, she played "the Princess" on a regular basis in the comedic sci-fi web series Troopers on CollegeHumor.
She made her saxophone debut in Cassorla's "Bona Fide" video in 2014, and she appeared in Father John Misty's "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" music video from the album Fear Fun in 2012.
In the comedy Safety Not Guaranteed from 2012, Plaza co-starred with Mark Duplass in her first leading role in a big-budget movie. In his role as Darius, Plaza portrayed a cynical intern who responds to an intriguing want post "seeking a companion for a time traveling adventure." Her work in the movie received favorable reviews.
In 2012, she took up the prize for Female Breakthrough Performance at the Young Hollywood Awards (YHA).
She met then-Vice President Joe Biden while filming an episode of Parks and Recreation at the White House in 2012, and she later grabbed his notes about her from his desk.
She played the title role of Sacagawea in the Drunk History episode "Nashville" in 2013, which focused on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
She also played the lead in the 2013 CBS film The To Do List. Plaza was expelled from the studio lot where the ceremony was place when she raced onto the stage and snatched Will Ferrell's MTV Movie Award for "Comedic Genius" while holding a drink and the name of the movie printed on her chest.
Her now-husband Jeff Baena wrote and directed the movie Life After Beth, which had its world premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
In the 2014 Lifetime Network original film Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever, Plaza also provided the voice of Grumpy Cat.
Legion and further film roles from 2016 until the present
Alongside Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, and Adam DeVine, she appeared in the film Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. The movie came out on July 8, 2016. She received favorable reviews for her portrayal of the disobedient Tatiana.
She made two guest appearances in 2016: she played Aaron Burr in the "Hamilton" episode of Drunk History and a gnome dubbed "Hawaiian Coffee" on HarmonQuest. She also appeared as a guest voice actress in the Betty White-starring SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Mall Girl Pearl".
In Season 11 of the CBS television series Criminal Minds, she debuted as the contract killer Cat Adams. In Seasons 12 and 15, she took up the role once more.
The Little Hours and Ingrid Goes West are two movies that Plaza both produced and appeared in in 2017. She would appear in the independent comedy An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn in 2018.
In the FX series Legion, Plaza played the dual roles of Lenny Busker and Amahl Farouk/Shadow King from 2017 to 2019.
Plaza presided over the Independent Spirit Awards in 2019 and 2020.
She played Karen Barclay, Andy's mother, in the 2019 remake of the 1988 film Child's Play. Karen Barclay brings home a murderous doll named Chucky.
In addition to playing a significant role in Happiest Season and Black Bear in 2020, Plaza created and starred in both independent films.
In 2021, Plaza collaborated with author Dan Murphy and illustrator Julia Iredale to write the children's book The Legend of the Christmas Witch.
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival had the world premiere of Emily the Criminal, which Plaza both produced and starred in. She also has a role in the 2022 South by Southwest premiere of the movie Spin Me Round.
Plaza was confirmed to appear in the HBO series The White Lotus' second season in January 2022. Will Sharpe's character Ethan and Plaza's lawyer character Harper are on vacation in Sicily.
Little Demon had its FXX debut on August 25, 2022. Plaza, Danny and Lucy DeVito, and Plaza, who serves as executive producer, all appear in the show.
Plaza received the Artist of Distinction Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival on October 16, 2022.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe-set Disney+ series Agatha: Coven of Chaos, which premiered in November 2022, Plaza was hired for an unspecified function that may have involved joining a coven.
Private life
Since 2011, Plaza has been dating author and director Jeff Baena. Plaza claimed that she and Baena were wed in a post on Instagram in May 2021, referring to him as her husband.
Girls are attracted me—that's no secret, she said in an interview with The Advocate in 2016. Hey, I'm also into them. Both men and women make me fall in love. I'm powerless to stop.
When Plaza was 20 years old, she had a stroke that temporarily paralyzed her and gave her expressive aphasia. She experienced a transient ischemic attack while working on the Parks and Recreation set a few years later.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
2006 | Killswitch | Girl with Head Wound | Short film |
In Love | Julie | Short film | |
2009 | Mystery Team | Kelly Peters | |
Funny People | Daisy Danby | ||
2010 | Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | Julie Powers | |
2011 | Damsels in Distress | Debbie | |
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You | Jeanine Breemer | ||
10 Years | Olivia | ||
2012 | Safety Not Guaranteed | Darius Britt | |
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III | Marnie | ||
2013 | From Up on Poppy Hill | Sachiko Hirokouji | English dub |
She Said, She Said | Woman in Park | Short film | |
Failure | Woman | Short film | |
The End of Love | Aubrey | ||
The To Do List | Brandy Klark | ||
Charlie Countryman | Ashley | ||
Monsters University | Claire Wheeler | Voice | |
Center Jenny | Monika Nark | ||
2014 | Life After Beth | Beth Slocum | |
About Alex | Sarah | ||
Ned Rifle | Susan | ||
Playing It Cool | Mallory | ||
Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever | Grumpy Cat | Voice | |
2015 | Addicted to Fresno | Kelly | |
The Driftless Area | Jean | ||
2016 | Dirty Grandpa | Lenore | |
Joshy | Jen | ||
The Pistol Shrimps | Herself | Documentary | |
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates | Tatiana Darcy | ||
2017 | Take My Nose... Please! | Herself | Documentary |
The Little Hours | Fernanda | Also producer | |
Ingrid Goes West | Ingrid Thorburn | Also producer | |
2018 | An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn | Lulu Danger | |
2019 | Child's Play | Karen Barclay | |
2020 | Black Bear | Allison | Also producer |
Happiest Season | Riley Johnson | ||
2021 | Best Sellers | Lucy Stanbridge | |
King Knight | Pine Cone | Voice | |
2022 | Emily the Criminal | Emily Benetto | Also producer |
Spin Me Round | Kat | ||
2023 | Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre | Sarah Fidel | |
2024 | Megalopolis | Unknown | Post-production |
TBA | The Ark and the Aardvark | Brain | Voice; Post-production |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
2006 | 30 Rock | NBC Page | Episode: "Tracy Does Conan" |
2009–2015, 2020 | Parks and Recreation | April Ludgate | 125 episodes |
2011 | Portlandia | Beth / Bookstore Customer | 3 episodes |
Troopers | The Princess | Web series | |
2012 | NTSF:SD:SUV:: | The Rememberer | Episode: "Wasila Hills Cop" |
2013–2014 | The Legend of Korra | Eska (voice) | 12 episodes |
2013 | Drunk History | Sacagawea | Episode: "Nashville" |
Maron | Herself | Episode: "Jen Moves to L.A." | |
2014–2015 | Welcome to Sweden | Herself | 6 episodes |
2015 | Golan the Insatiable | Dylan Beekler (voice) | 6 episodes |
Castle | Lucy | Voice; Uncredited | |
2016 | SpongeBob SquarePants | Nocturna | Voice |
Comedy Bang! Bang! | Lady Aubrey / Herself | Episode: "Aubrey Plaza Wears a Velvet Off-the-Shoulder Gown With Flowers in Her Hair" | |
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars | Herself / Guest Judge | Episode: "Family That Drags Together" | |
Drunk History | Aaron Burr | Episode: "Hamilton" | |
HarmonQuest | Hawaiian Coffee | Episode: "Manoa Prison Hole" | |
2016–2020 | Criminal Minds | Cat Adams | 4 episodes |
2017 | Easy | Lindsay | Episode: "Package Thief" |
2017–2019 | Legion | Amahl Farouk / Shadow King | 27 episodes |
2019 | 34th Independent Spirit Awards | Herself (host) | Television special |
Drunk History | Cleopatra | Episode: "Bad Blood" | |
2019–2020 | Crank Yankers | Bernadette | Voice; 2 episodes |
2020 | 35th Independent Spirit Awards | Herself (host) | Television special |
Muppets Now | Herself | Episode: "Sleep Mode" | |
Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine | Ashley | Television special | |
2021 | Cinema Toast | Karen | Voice; Episode: "Quiet Illness"; also co-executive producer, writer, and director |
Calls | Dr. Rachel Wheating | Voice; 2 episodes | |
Duncanville | Nina | Voice; Episode: "Das Banana Boot" | |
2022 | The White Lotus | Harper Spiller | 7 episodes |
2022–present | Little Demon | Laura Feinberg | Voice; also executive producer |
2022 | The Simpsons | Amber Duffman | Voice; Episode: "From Beer to Paternity" |
2023 | Saturday Night Live | Herself; host | Episode: "Aubrey Plaza/Sam Smith" |
2023–2024 | Agatha: Coven of Chaos | TBA | |
TBA | Scott Pilgrim The Anime | Julie Powers | Voice |
Music videos
Year | Title | Artist(s) | Role |
2012 | "Hollywood Cemetery Forever Sings" | Father John Misty | Girl |
2013 | "Rouse Yourself" | JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound | Girl |
2014 | "Bona Fide" | Cassorla | Woman in Boat |
Awards and nominations
Award | Year | Nominated work | Category | Result |
ALMA Awards | 2011 | Parks and Recreation | Favorite TV Actress – Supporting Role | Nominated |
2012 | Safety Not Guaranteed | Favorite Movie Actress – Comedy/Musical | Won | |
Parks and Recreation | Favorite TV Actress – Leading Role in Comedy | Nominated | ||
American Comedy Awards | 2014 | Parks and Recreation | Best Comedy Supporting Actress – TV | Nominated |
Chlotrudis Awards | 2013 | Safety Not Guaranteed | Best Actress | Nominated |
2018 | Ingrid Goes West | Best Actress | Nominated | |
2021 | Black Bear | Best Actress | Nominated | |
Golden Globe Awards | 2023 | The White Lotus | Best Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film | Nominated |
Golden Raspberry Awards | 2017 | Dirty Grandpa | Worst Supporting Actress | Nominated |
Gotham Awards | 2012 | Safety Not Guaranteed | Best Ensemble Cast | Nominated |
2022 | Emily the Criminal | Outstanding Lead Performance | Nominated | |
Hollywood Critics Association Film Awards | 2021 | — | Acting Achievement | Won |
Imagen Awards | 2010 | Parks and Recreation | Best Supporting Actress – Television | Nominated |
2012 | Parks and Recreation | Best Supporting Actress – Television | Nominated | |
2013 | Parks and Recreation | Best Supporting Actress – Television | Nominated | |
2014 | Parks and Recreation | Best Supporting Actress – Television | Nominated | |
2018 | Legion | Best Actress – Television | Nominated | |
2021 | Black Bear | Best Actress – Feature Film | Won | |
Independent Spirit Awards | 2018 | Ingrid Goes West | Best First Feature | Won |
2023 | Emily the Criminal | Best Lead Performance | Nominated | |
Best First Feature | Nominated | |||
MTV Movie & TV Awards | 2018 | Legion | Best Villain | Nominated |
2023 | The White Lotus | Best Performance in a Show | Pending | |
Riviera International Film Festival Awards | 2021 | — | Icon Award | Won |
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards | 2021 | Black Bear | Best Actress | Nominated |
San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Awards | 2023 | Emily the Criminal | Best Actress | Nominated |
Screen Actors Guild Awards | 2023 | The White Lotus | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Won |
St. Louis Film Critics Association Awards | 2012 | Safety Not Guaranteed | Best Actress | Nominated |
Young Hollywood Awards | 2012 | Safety Not Guaranteed | Breakthrough Performance – Female | Won |
2014 | — | Cuz You're Funny | Nominated |
Quick Bio
Nickname | Aubrey |
Gender | Female |
Age | 38 years old (in 2023) |
Date of Birth | June 26, 1984 |
Full Name | Aubrey Christina Plaza |
Profession | Actress, Comedian and Producer |
Nationality | American |
Birthplace | Wilmington, Delaware, United States |
Religion | Not Known |
Zodiac Sign | Cancer |
School | Ursuline Academy |
College | New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts |
Profession | Actress, Comedian and Producer |
Net Worth. | USD $6 million approx. |
Height, Weight & Physical Stats
Body Measurements | 35-25-35 inches |
Body type | Banana |
Height | 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) |
Weight | 55 kg (121 lbs) |
Waist | 25 inches |
Hair Color | Dark Brown |
Eye Color | Light Brown |
Shoe Size | 8 |
Dress Size | 6 |
Family & Relatives
Father | David Plaza |
Mother | Bernadette Plaza |
Brother | None |
Sister | Renee Plaza, Natalie Plaza |
Marital Status | Married |
Husband | Jeff Baena (2011–) |
No. of Children | None |
Past Relationships | John Gallagher Jr. |
Facts
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