Aubrey Plaza details 'daily struggle' after death of her husband Jeff Baena
The filmmaker died in January at the age of 47, with the Los Angeles County medical examiner concluding he took his own life.
The director and screenwriter was found at a home close to the Fern Dell Nature Trail near the Hollywood Hills.
Plaza discussed dealing with grief during an appearance on her Parks and Recreation co-star Amy Poehler's podcast.
She said: "Right in this very, very present moment, I feel happy to be with you.
"Overall, I'm here and I'm functioning. I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I'm ok, but it's like a daily struggle, obviously."
She told Poehler's Good Hang podcast that she compared her grief to the 2025 movie The Gorge, which stars Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy.
She said: "This is a really dumb analogy and it was kind of a joke at a certain point, but I actually mean it. Did you see that movie The Gorge? In the movie, there's a cliff on one side and there's a cliff on the other side, then there's a gorge in between and it's filled with all these monster people that are trying to get them.
"I swear, when I watched it, I was like that feels like what my grief is like … or what grief could be like.
"At all times, there's like a giant ocean of awfulness, that's right there and I can see it.
"Sometimes I just want to dive into it, and just like be in it. Then sometimes I just look at it, and sometimes I try to get away from it. But, it's always there."
Plaza separated from Baena in September 2024, according to a report by the Los Angeles County Coroner Investigator.
The couple had been in a relationship since around 2011 and they married a decade later.
Plaza told The Ellen DeGeneres Show in December 2021 that they made the decision to tie the knot after getting "a little bored one night" during the Covid pandemic.
The pair worked together on the 2014 horror film Life After Beth and 2017 historical comedy The Little Hours.
Plaza is best known for her role as April in the workplace comedy Parks and Recreation, in which Poehler played politician Leslie Knope.
She is also famous for her role in the second series of The White Lotus and the Marvel series Agatha All Along.
She has also starred in Hollywood films including Megalopolis, My Old Ass, Ingrid Goes West, Dirty Grandpa and Emily The Criminal.
Baena wrote 2020 thriller Horse Girl, starring Alison Brie, and 2022 dark comedy Spin Me Round, both of which he also directed, as well as 2004 comedy I Heart Huckabees, starring Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman and Mark Wahlberg.
He also created the anthology comedy series Cinema Toast, which had an episode directed by Plaza and another starring Community actress Alison Brie.
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RTÉ News
5 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Aubrey Plaza details 'daily struggle' after death of her husband Jeff Baena
Aubrey Plaza has said it is a "daily struggle" following the death of her estranged husband Jeff Baena. The filmmaker died in January at the age of 47, with the Los Angeles County medical examiner concluding he took his own life. The director and screenwriter was found at a home close to the Fern Dell Nature Trail near the Hollywood Hills. Plaza discussed dealing with grief during an appearance on her Parks and Recreation co-star Amy Poehler's podcast. She said: "Right in this very, very present moment, I feel happy to be with you. "Overall, I'm here and I'm functioning. I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I'm ok, but it's like a daily struggle, obviously." She told Poehler's Good Hang podcast that she compared her grief to the 2025 movie The Gorge, which stars Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy. She said: "This is a really dumb analogy and it was kind of a joke at a certain point, but I actually mean it. Did you see that movie The Gorge? In the movie, there's a cliff on one side and there's a cliff on the other side, then there's a gorge in between and it's filled with all these monster people that are trying to get them. "I swear, when I watched it, I was like that feels like what my grief is like … or what grief could be like. "At all times, there's like a giant ocean of awfulness, that's right there and I can see it. "Sometimes I just want to dive into it, and just like be in it. Then sometimes I just look at it, and sometimes I try to get away from it. But, it's always there." Plaza separated from Baena in September 2024, according to a report by the Los Angeles County Coroner Investigator. The couple had been in a relationship since around 2011 and they married a decade later. Plaza told The Ellen DeGeneres Show in December 2021 that they made the decision to tie the knot after getting "a little bored one night" during the Covid pandemic. The pair worked together on the 2014 horror film Life After Beth and 2017 historical comedy The Little Hours. Plaza is best known for her role as April in the workplace comedy Parks and Recreation, in which Poehler played politician Leslie Knope. She is also famous for her role in the second series of The White Lotus and the Marvel series Agatha All Along. She has also starred in Hollywood films including Megalopolis, My Old Ass, Ingrid Goes West, Dirty Grandpa and Emily The Criminal. Baena wrote 2020 thriller Horse Girl, starring Alison Brie, and 2022 dark comedy Spin Me Round, both of which he also directed, as well as 2004 comedy I Heart Huckabees, starring Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman and Mark Wahlberg. He also created the anthology comedy series Cinema Toast, which had an episode directed by Plaza and another starring Community actress Alison Brie.
Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Aubrey Plaza details ‘daily struggle' after death of her husband Jeff Baena
Aubrey Plaza has said it is a 'daily juggle' following the death of her estranged husband Jeff Baena. The filmmaker died in January at the age of 47, with the Los Angeles County medical examiner concluding he took his own life. The director and screenwriter was found at a home close to the Fern Dell Nature Trail near the Hollywood Hills, with the cause of his death determined as hanging. Plaza discussed dealing with grief during an appearance on her Parks and Recreation co-star Amy Poehler's podcast. She said: 'Right in this very, very present moment, I feel happy to be with you. 'Overall, I'm here and I'm functioning. I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I'm ok, but it's like a daily struggle, obviously.' She told Poehler's Good Hang podcast that she compared her grief to the 2025 movie The Gorge, which stars Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy. Aubrey Plaza has spoken about her grief on a podcast with co-star Amy Poehler (Doug Peters/PA) She said: 'This is a really dumb analogy and it was kind of a joke at a certain point, but I actually mean it. Did you see that movie The Gorge? … In the movie, there's a cliff on one side and there's a cliff on the other side, then there's a gorge in between and it's filled with all these monster people that are trying to get them. 'I swear, when I watched it, I was like that feels like what my grief is like … or what grief could be like. 'At all times, there's like a giant ocean of awfulness, that's right there and I can see it. 'Sometimes I just want to dive into it, and just like be in it. Then sometimes I just look at it, and sometimes I try to get away from it. But, it's always there.' Plaza separated from Baena in September 2024, according to a report by the Los Angeles County Coroner Investigator. The couple had been in a relationship since around 2011 and they married a decade later. Plaza told The Ellen DeGeneres Show in December 2021 that they made the decision to tie the knot after getting 'a little bored one night' during the covid pandemic. The pair worked together on the 2014 horror film Life After Beth and 2017 historical comedy The Little Hours. Plaza is best known for her role as April in the workplace comedy Parks and Recreation, in which Poehler played politician Leslie Knope. She is also famous for her role in the second series of The White Lotus and the Marvel series Agatha All Along. She has also starred in Hollywood films including Megalopolis, My Old Ass, Ingrid Goes West, Dirty Grandpa and Emily The Criminal. Baena wrote 2020 thriller Horse Girl, starring Alison Brie, and 2022 dark comedy Spin Me Round, both of which he also directed, as well as 2004 comedy I Heart Huckabees, starring Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman and Mark Wahlberg. He also created the anthology comedy series Cinema Toast, which had an episode directed by Plaza and another starring Community actress Alison Brie.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Grá review: Art drawn from the Crawford collection celebrates love in all its forms
Grá Uillinn, Skibbereen, Co Cork ★★★★☆ While Crawford Art Gallery , in Cork, is closed for redevelopment – it's expected to reopen in 2027 – what to do with its thousands of artworks? The solution has been to lend pieces to galleries and museums across Ireland. Rightly treating the Crawford collection as a piggy bank to be raided, Uillinn, aka West Cork Arts Centre, has teamed up with the local Salt & Pepper group and with the Crawford curator Michael Waldron to devise Grá, a group exhibition that 'celebrates love in all its forms'. Salt & Pepper is an LGBTQ+ creative collective of older individuals – the name refers to its members' greying hair – that was founded by Toma McCullim in 2022. The group began meeting on park benches during the Covid pandemic; these impromptu gatherings led to more formal collaborative activity, which in turn resulted in a series of artworks shown at Uillinn in 2022 during the Bealtaine Festival. Grá circles around themes of queer identity and romance. In the first room, for example, we are welcomed by an alabaster-white plaster model and a surreal portrait of a quiescent figure. READ MORE Grá: Uillinn has raided the Crawford collection. Photograph: Marcin Lewandowski Grá: Uillinn has raided the Crawford collection. Photograph: Marcin Lewandowski The sculpture is not attributed to an artist; it was produced in the mid-19th century as an educational prop, and although it's supposed to depict Aphrodite, it may in fact be a likeness of Sappho, the ancient Greek poet whose name has become synonymous with lesbian desire. The portrait, by Stephen Doyle, is called Meditating Tongqi; its subjects are the Chinese phenomena of tongqi, or women who have married gay men, and tongfu, or men who have married gay women, because they felt immense social pressure to conform. In addition to the works explicitly coded as queer, the curatorial team have clearly enjoyed drawing out connections among other artworks – links framed less as definitive statements than as interpretive, playful gestures, often established through witty juxtapositions or wry sideways glances. The rainbow hues in the works of Tom Climent and Isabel Nolan, for example – otherwise formally and conceptually distinct – serve as suggestive nods to the international symbolism of LGBTQ+ identity. Grá runs at Uillinn , Skibbereen, Co Cork, until Saturday, September 20th
