Aubrey Plaza describes grief over husband Jeff Baena's death, likens it to an 'ocean of awfulness'
The actor spoke on the podcast ''Good Hang with Amy Poehler,' telling her former 'Parks and Recreation' costar in her most detailed public remarks to date that it's been a daily struggle to overcome her grief. Writer-director Baena's January death at age 47 was ruled a suicide.
'Overall, I'm here and I'm functioning,' Plaza tells Poehler at the outset of their interview after being asked how she is coping. 'I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I'm OK. But it's like a daily struggle, obviously.'
___
EDITOR'S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
___
She likens her grief to an image from an Apple TV+ horror movie starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy.
'Did you see that movie 'The Gorge?'' Plaza asks Poehler. 'In the movie, there's a cliff on one side and then there's a cliff on the other side, and there's a gorge in between, and its filled with all these monster people trying to get them,' Plaza says. 'And I swear when I watched it I was like, 'That feels like what my grief is like,' or what grief could be like … where it's like at all times, there's a giant ocean of awfulness that's right there and I can see it."
Plaza adds: "And sometimes I just want to dive into it, and just be in it, and sometimes I just look at it. And then sometimes I try to get away from it. But it's just always there, and the monster people are trying to get me, like Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy.'
Baena was a writer and director who frequently collaborated with Plaza. He cowrote David O. Russell's 2004 film 'I Heart Huckabees' and wrote and directed five of his own films. Plaza starred in his 2014 directorial debut, the zombie comedy 'Life After Beth.'
After largely remaining silent since the Baena's death, Plaza is now promoting her new film, 'Honey Don't!' The dark comedy from director Ethan Coen has Margaret Qualley as a private investigator looking into nefarious goings-on in Bakersfield, California.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
27 minutes ago
- The Independent
Man charged with killing an 'American Idol' exec and husband will undergo mental evaluation
A man charged with fatally shooting an 'American Idol' music supervisor and her husband in their Los Angeles home will undergo mental evaluation to determine whether he's fit to stand trial, a judge ruled Wednesday. Raymond Boodarian, 22, was set to be arraigned in a courthouse in Los Angeles but did not enter a plea. A judge suspended the criminal proceedings against him while a psychiatrist examines him to determine his competency. He's charged with two counts of murder in the killing of longtime 'American Idol' producer Robin Kaye and her husband Thomas Deluca, both 70, who were shot when they came home unexpectedly during a burglary on July 10. A judge at a court that specializes in mental health will consider the evaluation and decide whether Boodarian will proceed toward trial or be placed in a state hospital. Boodarian stood behind a window in a custody area of the courtroom, and appeared to try to remain out of sight. His attorney declined comment, and the district attorney's office had no immediate comment. Boodarian will undergo the same evaluation in the same small courthouse on Hollywood Boulevard where a man charged with stalking Jennifer Aniston and driving into the front gate of her home was recently found to be not competent to go to trial. Police said they responded to a 911 call about a burglary at the home of Kaye and Deluca in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles. Police said they found no sign of forced entry or other trouble and left. Four days later the couple's bodies were found, shot to death, when officers carried out a welfare check at the home. Boodarian was arrested the following day. District Attorney Nathan Hochman later said in a community meeting that investigators believe the couple arrived home unexpectedly while Boodarian was burglarizing it. He shot them with their own gun and later called 911 himself, Hochman said. Kaye had been with 'American Idol' for more than 15 years and was working on the upcoming season of the hit singing competition TV series at the time of her death. She had also worked in the music departments of several other productions, including 'The Singing Bee,' 'Hollywood Game Night,' 'Lip Sync Battle,' and several Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Hulk Hogan's daughter makes more explosive claims on her father's death and says he will have an autopsy
Hulk Hogan 's estranged daughter Brooke has released a bombshell statement over her father's death - and revealed that officials will conduct an autopsy. The wrestling icon suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away at the age of 71 last month. By then, Hogan had gone years without speaking to Brooke, 37. Brooke initially remained silent in the wake of his death, before later demanding an autopsy on his body and seemingly accused the authorities of foul play. She later backtracked over those comments but has now returned to social media to claim that body cam footage from the day could 'shed enough light to change the narrative'. On her Instagram story, she wrote: 'FACT: I've 100% gotten legit calls from professionals- from police officials to nurses that were supposedly with my dad on the day of his death telling ME I need to see body cam footage and I need to get a hold of the 911 tapes because they supposedly contain information that could potentially shed enough light to change the narrative we/I/everyone's been hearing. 'Those same professionals feel so passionately about what they witnessed, they have continued to contact me and push me to find specific answers to this very day. 'They are quite literally putting their careers at risk because they feel so compelled to do the right thing. The short of it is- it's all up to my dad's wife and I have zero control. I can not do anything, my hands are tied, and I have no say in anything regarding my dad - even as his daughter. Those are the rules as I've been told. In another story, she wrote: 'I do not have any information on if or when he is being cremated. Could have been right after he died, could be tomorrow. I do not know. 'I have been told by my brother there will be an autopsy. I do not know who will be performing the autopsy. Any information I receive from an autopsy- if one happens-whether I believe it or not, I will be keeping private out of respect for my father. 'I do not have answers as to if the officials who have contacted me about what they witnessed relayed this information to the medical examiner's office. And if they did, I do not know why it wasn't taken into consideration. 'All body cam footage and 911 dispatch calls are not available via the freedom of information act. It's all on lockdown. I do not know why. 'Do I question his general physician signing off on his death certificate, given his background which is available for anyone to see via a simple Google search? You can answer that one for yourself. 'I have to trust that my brother is doing his best to get answers. At the end of the day, answers would be great, but none of it brings my dad back. And my hands are tied'.
The Sun
28 minutes ago
- The Sun
Biggest Loser winner Danny Cahill DEFENDS Jillian Michaels and reveals who really gave ‘banned' pills to contestants
THE Biggest Loser champion Danny Cahill - who appears in the new Netflix documentary about the controversial former show - has defended trainer Jillian Michaels as she allegedly prepares to sue those involved. Oklahoma-born Danny, 56, was the Season 8 winner of the NBC reality TV show, having lost a staggering 239 pounds. 6 6 6 In the new documentary, he appears alongside other contestants and talks about the highs and lows of his experience and how he put a lot of the weight back on years later. Viewers were left stunned by the extreme methods used on The Biggest Loser, with those taking part working out up to eight hours a day and surviving on just 800 calories. Jillian took to Instagram on Tuesday to slam the show and former co-star Bob Harper, after she was accused of slipping contestants prohibited caffeine pills to help them lose weight. During an interview with TMZ, she also claimed she is exploring her legal options as she prepares to file a lawsuit with attorney Bryan Freedman. The U.S. Sun spoke to contestant Danny about the controversy, who claimed the contestants were handed caffeine pills- but not by Jillian. "In the documentary, I do mention that later in the season, we did have access to that, but it wasn't her," he alleged. "I can't remember exactly who it was. When I say it wasn't her, it wasn't her that handed them to us or anything. 'I know that they were made available, and they were supposed to be like a strong cup of coffee or something, like 200 milligrams of caffeine or something." I took them for two days, and they made me feel jittery." The Biggest Loser champion Danny Cahill He insists they were never told they were banned, adding, "As far as I knew, they were there and everybody knew about them. "Somebody in casting gave them to us. So I don't know who that was. Jillian never gave 'em to me. "That's all I really know about it, is they offered it to us. "I've never gotten any pills from anybody directly, like not Bob or Jillian or Dr. Huizenga." The U.S. Sun has reached out to Netflix, NBC, Bob Harper, and Dr. Robert Huizenga for comment, but did not hear back. Jillian and Bryan Freedman also failed to respond. "I took them for two days, and they made me feel jittery, and I quit. I said, 'Uh, uh, no,'" Dany continued. "It's like a Red Bull or something. One time I drank one of those, a big one, and I didn't feel good on it, so I said, well, I'm done with those. And that's kind of what happened with the caffeine pills." Showing support for Jillian, he insisted, "She helped people. Jillian is super smart. And I'll tell you what, you pretty much know what you're going to get with her. She tells it straight and she doesn't fool around. "I love Jillian, and I thought Bob and Jillian had different styles, but they both helped people in different ways. "I don't think any of the contestants that I talked to, other than some gameplay that happened, had real problems with Bob or Jillian. NOT FRIENDS "I don't know a lot of the backstory of what's happening [with the lawsuit] but she has to protect her reputation. She's gotta do what she's gotta do. "I just know what happened to me on the ranch, one season out of 18. "Jillian, when people would say, 'Is she really that crazy?' I would be like, 'Well, yeah, in the gym she is'. "I think that me growing up in sports where sometimes the coach would say, 'What are you doing? You know, get over there and do that correctly.' "So I was used to that kind of stuff, and I didn't have any issues with either of them. And they seemed to get along pretty well on my season. So I don't know anything about any conflict between them." The feud between Bob and Jillian has been ongoing for several years and was reignited in the wake of the recent Netflix documentary. The Biggest Loser aired on NBC between 2004 and 2016 before being rebooted on US Network for one year in 2020. On the show, they competed against each other as personal trainers working with teams of contestants who tried to lose the most weight each week. Bob was asked about their friendship in Netflix's three-part docuseries. In his response, he told producers, "How do I put this? People were always like, 'You and Jillian have been so close.' I was like, 'Well, we were close on TV.'" Discussing his 2017 health scare, he then said, "After I had my heart attack, she's the one person I never heard from. That to me spoke volumes." EMAIL 'RECEIPTS' On Tuesday, Jillian began sharing old emails from her time on the show, discussing distributing fat burners. She also wrote, "Bob Harper not only knew about the caffeine pills the 'stackers fat burner' were actually his suggestion. "I wanted to use my brand instead because they were cleaner and had no more than 200mg of caffeine (equivalent to a strong cup of coffee)." She also disputed claims in the show that caffeine was banned. "Wild how some folks still lie like it's 1985 before texts and email were a thing," Jillian added on the post. Dr. Huizenga claimed to TMZ that the show was caffeine-free from day one, alleging coffee, diuretics, and weight-loss pills were off-limits. He alleged Jillian was secretly giving the contestants her own supplements and that she apologized on air when he confronted her about it. 6 6 6
