Aubrey Plaza

Aubrey Plaza

Plaza at the 2012 Time 100
Birth name Aubrey Christina Plaza[1]
Born (1984-06-26) June 26, 1984
Wilmington, Delaware, United States
Medium Stand-up, television, film
Alma mater Tisch School of the Arts
Years active 2004–present
Genres Deadpan comedy, improvisational comedy
Website aubreyplaza.tumblr.com

Aubrey Christina Plaza[1] (born June 26, 1984)[2] is an American actress and comedian. She portrayed April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation, and after appearing in supporting roles in several films, had her first leading role in the 2012 comedy Safety Not Guaranteed.

Plaza began her career as an intern. After performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, she appeared in the web series The Jeannie Tate Show. She later appeared in films such as Funny People, 10 Years, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

Early life

Plaza was born in Wilmington, Delaware, to Bernadette, an attorney, and David Plaza, a financial advisor.[3][4][5] She has two younger sisters, Renee and Natalie;[3] the latter has inspired a number of Aubrey's comedic characters.[6]

Plaza was named after the song "Aubrey" by Bread.[3][7] Her father is Puerto Rican and her mother is Irish–English.[3][8] Plaza has stated: "I was like the only diverse kid in my high school, and I'm half-Puerto Rican. But yeah, I have a huge family and tons of cousins in Puerto Rico."[6] She participated in productions with the Wilmington Drama League.[3]

Plaza attended an all-girls Catholic school from grades four to 12.[9] She graduated from Ursuline Academy in 2002, and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2006.[3] In high school she was student council president.[10][11] While at NYU in 2004, Plaza suffered a stroke that caused temporary paralysis and expressive aphasia, but she has fully recovered.[3][12]

Career

Plaza has had many internships, including an "intern[ship] for Samba Post-Its"; one day, her job at Samba Post-Its was to "literally wallpaper a bathroom with Post-Its".[13] She also worked as an NBC page.[14] She served as a director's assistant to writer/producer/director Bennett Davlin during the making of his award-winning short film, TC3.[14]

Plaza has performed improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater since 2004. She also performed stand-up and has appeared at the Laugh Factory and The Improv. In 2008, she participated in the Improv Everywhere prank "Mobile Desktop", in which she and two other people brought desktop PCs, including a CRT monitor, tower computer, keyboard and mouse into a Starbucks and used them as people use laptops there.

Plaza starred in the online series The Jeannie Tate Show, and stars as Robin Gibney in ESPN's Mayne Street. She appeared in the first episode of "Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz" on Funny or Die.[15]

Plaza at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2010

She played Seth Rogen's love interest, Daisy, in 2009's Funny People directed by Judd Apatow. She appeared in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Derrick Comedy's Mystery Team, which debuted at 2009 Sundance. She appeared in a CollegeHumor short alongside Jason Bateman and Will Arnett.

She played April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation. For her performance as the deadpan employee, she received universal praise throughout the entire show, being referred to as one of the show's breakout characters. She also has a recurring role as "the Princess" in the comedic sci-fi web series Troopers on CollegeHumor.

On March 12, 2010, Plaza performed at "A Night of 140 Tweets: A Celebrity Tweetathon for Haiti", produced by Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Ben Stiller, and Mike Rosenstein, at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles. In 2011 she appeared on Portlandia. Plaza appeared as a guest judge during a roast segment on The Next Food Network Star in 2011. She appeared in Episode 199 of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast.

In 2012, she was featured in Father John Misty's music video for the song "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" from the album Fear Fun and in 2014 she was in Cassorla's "Bona Fide" video where she also made her saxophone-playing debut.

In 2012 Plaza earned her first starring role in a major film, alongside Mark Duplass, in the comedy, Safety Not Guaranteed. Plaza played Darius, a jaded intern who answers a curious want ad "seeking a companion for a time travelling adventure". Her performance in the film was critically acclaimed, and Gary Thompson of the Philadelphia Inquirer questioned whether this role was out of her usual "pretty slacker" range but found her performance "compelling".[16]

At the 2013 MTV Movie Awards, Plaza "jumped onstage and tried to wrestle the (Golden Popcorn Award) statue from Will Ferrell's hand" during his acceptance speech; Ferrell integrated the interaction into his monologue as a planned moment, but the unscripted interruption led to Plaza's ejection from the event.[17]

At the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in January 2014, Plaza's film, Life After Beth, which was written and directed by her boyfriend Jeff Baena, premiered.[18]

On September 17, 2014, Lifetime Network announced that Plaza would do the speaking voice of Grumpy Cat in their upcoming original movie Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever.[19] The film premiered on November 29, 2014 and received generally negative reviews.

She starred in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates alongside Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick and Adam DeVine. The film was released on July 8, 2016. Her role as the rebellious Tatiana earned her critical praise.

In 2016, she has the only speaking line in a commercial for the Apple iPhone 6s, demonstrating "I'm peeking my flight. I'm not peeking my flight. I'm peeking my . . . wait, I missed my flight."[20]

She was a guest star on HarmonQuest in 2016, an animated Pathfinder show that enlists a new star guest each episode and then usually kills off their guest in the end. She played a gnome named "Hawaiian Coffee" who helps the heroes escape from jails using magic, alchemy, and even bomb potions.

Personal life

Plaza has said her "first love" was actor and musician John Gallagher, Jr., whom she grew up with. He asked her out at age 13 with a song he wrote and sung it to her in an Irish pub. [21]

Plaza previously dated fellow actor Michael Cera for a year and a half after the two met on the set of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Aubrey said that in 2010, the two nearly got married in Vegas.[22]

Plaza has been dating writer/director Jeff Baena since 2011. They live together and work together often.[23]

Plaza was a founding member of the Los Angeles-based basketball team the Pistol Shrimps, alongside actresses Molly Hawkey and Angela Trimbur. After a torn ACL, she decided to take her talents to the rival team The Spice Sqirls. [24] [25]

Regarding her sexuality, Plaza told The Advocate in 2016, "I fall in love with girls and guys. I can't help it."[26]

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes Refs
2006 Killswitch Girl with Head Wound Short film
2006 In Love Julie Short film
2009 Mystery Team Kelly Peters
2009 Funny People Daisy Danby
2010 Pete Carroll's Trip to Seattle Delayed Herself
2010 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Julie Powers
2011 Damsels in Distress Debbie
2011 Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You Real Estate Agent
2012 Safety Not Guaranteed Darius Britt
2012 A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III Marnie [27]
2011 10 Years Olivia
2013 From Up on Poppy Hill Sachiko Hirokouji English dub
2013 She Said, She Said Woman in Park Short film
2013 Failure Woman Short film
2013 The End of Love Herself
2013 The To Do List Brandy Klark
2013 Charlie Countryman Ashley
2013 Monsters University Claire Wheeler Voice [28]
2013 Center Jenny Monika Nark
2014 Life After Beth Beth Slocum [29]
2014 About Alex Sarah [30]
2014 Ned Rifle Susan [31]
2014 Playing It Cool Mallory [32]
2015 Addicted to Fresno Kelly
2015 The Driftless Area Jean
2016 Dirty Grandpa Lenore
2016 Joshy Jena
2016 The Pistol Shrimps Herself Documentary
2016 Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates Tatiana
2017 Ingrid Goes West Ingrid Thorburn In post-production
2017 The Little Hours In post-production [33]

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2006 30 Rock NBC page Episode: "Tracy Does Conan"
2009–2015 Parks and Recreation April Ludgate 124 episodes
Nominated—ALMA Award for Favorite TV Actress—Supporting Role (2011)
Nominated—ALMA Award for Favorite TV Actress—Leading Role In A Comedy (2012)
Nominated—Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress—Television (2010, 2012–2013)
2011 Portlandia Beth / Bookstore Customer 2 episodes
2011 Food Network Star Judge Episode 9: "Comedy Roast"
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"
2013 Maron Aubrey Plaza Episode: "Jen Moves to L.A."
2014–2015 Welcome to Sweden Herself 6 episodes
2014 Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever Grumpy Cat (voice) Television film
2015 Golan the Insatiable Dylan Beekler (voice) 6 episodes
2015 Castle Lucy (voice) Uncredited[34]
Episode: "Heartbreaker"
2016 SpongeBob SquarePants Nocturna (voice) Episode: "Mall Girl Pearl"
2016 Criminal Minds Cat Adams Episode: "Entropy"
2016 Comedy Bang! Bang! Lady Aubrey Episode: "Aubrey Plaza Wears a Velvet Off-the-Shoulder Gown With Flowers in Her Hair"
2016 Chelsea Herself / Guest Episode: "Tarzan, Mars & Aubrey Plaza"
2016 RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Herself / Guest Judge Episode: "Family That Drags Together"
2016 Drunk History Aaron Burr Episode: "Hamilton"
2017 Legion Lenny Busker Upcoming series

Music videos

Year Title Role Artist(s)
2012 "Hollywood Cemetery Forever Sings" Girl Father John Misty[35]
2013 "Rouse Yourself" Girl JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound[36]

References

  1. 1 2 Plaza, Aubrey (March 1, 2012). "Aubrey Plaza Finally Confronts Her Multiple Personalities". Bullett Magazine.
  2. ↑ Olsen, Mark (August 3, 2009). "Aubrey Plaza: Funny person". Los Angeles Times. - interview lists her as 25
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 John Micklos Jr. (February 16, 2012). "Aubrey Plaza of NBC's Parks and Recreation: Wilmington Native Is Building a Buzz in Hollywood". Delaware Today.
  4. ↑ Cormier, Ryan (January 15, 2010). "From Wilmy to Hollywood". Delaware Online. The News Journal.
  5. ↑ Cormier, Ryan (January 17, 2010). "Hey, aren't you that funny girl?". The News Journal. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
  6. 1 2 Herrera, Monica (April 9, 2009). "Parks & Recreation star Aubrey Plaza explains why she's so hot right now". Latina.
  7. ↑ "Tracklist: Aubrey Plaza Rocks the Boat". BlackBook. March 11, 2012. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
  8. ↑ Lee Hernández (June 11, 2009). "This girl's no slouch". New York Daily News. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Aubrey Plaza is Keeping a Secret". YouTube.
  10. ↑ Mark Byrne,Todd Cole. "The GQ Interview: Aubrey Plaza". GQ. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Maddux, Rachael (October 7, 2010). "Pals Ellie Kemper and Aubrey Plaza Reminisce About Bad Sandwiches". Vulture. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  12. ↑ Letterman, David (August 31, 2011), interview - "Late Show with David Letterman"
  13. ↑ Piepers, David (March 12, 2014). "Five interns who made it to the top". Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  14. 1 2 "Aubrey Plaza". NBC. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  15. ↑ "Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz from Eric Appel, Ben Schwartz, and Aubrey Plaza". Funnyordie.com. September 27, 2009. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
  16. ↑ Thompson, Gary (June 15, 2012). "Aubrey Plaza shines in 'Safety Not Guaranteed'". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved July 6, 2012. It's too early to say if Plaza's an actress, since no one's asked her to do anything other than be the pretty slacker with the bored posture and world-weary intonation. But she has an unusual kind of beauty (Anglo-Irish, Latina) that the camera loves to explore, and when she does make the hyperspace jump to sincerity and initiative, the results are compelling.
  17. ↑ Vena, Jocelyn (April 14, 2013). "Aubrey Plaza asked to leave MTV Movie Awards after Will Ferrell stage crash". MTV News. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  18. ↑ "You'll Never Guess Aubrey Plaza's Kinky On-Set Ritual!". In the Mixx. October 17, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  19. ↑ Blake, Emily (September 17, 2014). "Aubrey Plaza will be the voice of Grumpy Cat in Lifetime movie". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  20. ↑ Nudd, Tim (February 18, 2016). "Aubrey Plaza Quietly Fails to Save the Free World in This New iPhone Commercial. It was asking a lot.". Adweek.com. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  21. ↑ Osborne, Andrew. Nerve http://www.nerve.com/advice/sex-advice-from/sex-advice-from-aubrey-plaza. Retrieved 12 November 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. ↑ Bahr, Lindsey (3 November 2016). "Aubrey Plaza and Michael Cera "Almost Got Married in Vegas"". eonline. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  23. ↑ Bahr, Lindsey (7 July 2016). "Aubrey Plaza, rising: A Hollywood dreamer with a biting wit". Associated Press. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  24. ↑ Lebron, Steven (September 26, 2014). "Meet the Pistol Shrimps, the Hottest Pickup Basketball Team in America". GQ. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  25. ↑ ESPN http://www.espn.com/espnw/video/15637233/aubrey-plaza-makes-basketball-decision. Retrieved November 12, 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  26. ↑ Voss, Brandon (13 July 2016). "The A-List Interview: Aubrey Plaza". The Advocate. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  27. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (October 5, 2011). "Aubrey Plaza joins cast of 'Charlie Swan'". Variety.
  28. ↑ Gallagher, Brian (April 15, 2013). "Monsters University Fraternity and Sorority Gallery". Movieweb.com.
  29. ↑ McNary, Dave; Setoodeth, Ramin (January 24, 2014). "Sundance: Aubrey Plaza's 'Life After Beth' Picked Up by A24, DirecTV". Variety. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  30. ↑ Highfill, Samantha (April 15, 2014). "Tribeca: Aubrey Plaza, Max Greenfield bond in 'About Alex'". Entertainment Weekly. Inside Movies (blog). Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  31. ↑ McNary, Dave (March 13, 2014). "Aubrey Plaza Joins Hal Hartley's 'Ned Rifle'". Variety. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  32. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (October 2, 2012). "Anthony Mackie, Aubrey Plaza eye 'Splintered Thing'". Variety. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  33. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (April 26, 2016). "Jeff Baena's 'The Little Hours' Acquired By Concourse; Alison Brie, Dave Franco Star – Cannes". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  34. ↑ Webb Mitovitch, Matt (October 6, 2015). "Castle Reveal: The Feisty 'New Woman' in Rick's Life Is... Aubrey Plaza?". TV Line. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  35. ↑ Father John Misty (January 26, 2012). "Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings [OFFICIAL VIDEO]". Youtube.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  36. ↑ JCBrooksVEVO (June 21, 2013). "Rouse Yourself". JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound. Retrieved March 7, 2015.

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