Aubrey Plaza shares grief over husband's death with Amy Poehler
Plaza, the Marin County resident who is co-starring in Joel Coen's new neo-noir 'Honey Don't! ,' appeared on Poehler's 'Good Hang' podcast, which posted Tuesday, Aug. 19. The host immediately addressed the death of Plaza's husband, Jeff Baena.
'I think I would, on behalf of all the people who feel like they know you and the people who do know you: How are you feeling today,' Poehler asked.
Plaza thought for a moment before responding.
'I mean, right in this very, very present moment, I feel happy to be with you,' Plaza said. 'I feel overall, I'm here and I'm functioning, and I feel, you know, like I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I'm OK, but, you know, it's like a daily struggle.'
The body of Baena, a screenwriter and director, was found at his Los Angeles home on Jan. 3. The medical examiner's report cited the cause of death as suicide. He was 47.
Plaza and Baena first met in 2011 and quietly wed in 2021. The actress starred in Baena's 2014 directorial debut, the zombie comedy 'Life After Beth.' She also appeared in his medieval comedy 'The Little Hours' (2017), which Chronicle movie critic Mick LaSalle called one of the year's funniest films, and 'Spin Me Round' (2022).
At the time of Baena's death, the couple had been separated for several months.
On the podcast, Plaza compared her grief to the plot of 'The Gorge,' an Apple TV+ science fiction horror movie starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy released in February.
'In the movie, there's a cliff on one side and then there's a cliff on the other side and then there is a gorge in between and it's filled with all these monster people that are trying to get them and I swear when I watched it I was like, 'That feels like what my grief is like,' where it's like a giant ocean of just awfulness that's right there and I can see it and sometimes I just want to dive into it and be in it. And then sometimes I just look at it. And then, sometimes, I try to get away from it, but it's always there. It's just always there, and the monster people are trying to get me like Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy.'
Days after Baena's death, Plaza and Baena's family released a statement asking for privacy.
'This is an unimaginable tragedy. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support,' Plaza and the Baena and Stern families said in a statement on Jan. 6, shortly after his death was ruled a suicide. 'Please respect our privacy during this time.'
Beyond that, Plaza has largely remained out of the public eye. She paid tribute to Baena during a brief appearance on NBC's ' SNL50: The Anniversary Special ' in February by wearing a tie-dyed shirt (a hobby of Baena's), and appeared on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in May at the world premiere of 'Honey Don't!'
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