Aubrey Plaza
| Aubrey Plaza | |
|---|---|
 Plaza at the 2012 Time 100 | |
| Birth name | Aubrey Christina Plaza |
| Born | June 26, 1984 Wilmington, Delaware, United States |
| Medium | Stand-up, television, film, improv |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Genres | Deadpan |
| Notable works and roles | April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation Daisy Danby in Funny People Julie Powers in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World |
| Website | http://aubreyplaza.tumblr.com/ |
Aubrey Christina Plaza[1] (born June 26, 1984)[2] is an American actress and comedian who has gained popularity with her deadpan-style comedy. She currently co-stars in Parks and Recreation as April Ludgate.
Plaza began her career as an intern. After performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, she began appearing on the web series, The Jeannie Tate Show. Aubrey would later appear in films such as, Funny People.
In 2012, Plaza earned her first starring role in a major film, appearing alongside Mark Duplass in the comedy, Safety Not Guaranteed.
Early life
Plaza was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the daughter of Bernadette, an attorney, and David Plaza, a financial advisor.[3][4][5] She has two younger sisters, Renee and Natalie,[3] the latter of whom she uses as inspiration for her teenage character April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation.[6]
Plaza was named after the song "Aubrey" by Bread.[3][7] Her father is Puerto Rican and her mother is of Irish and English descent.[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 graduated from Ursuline Academy in 2002, and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2006.[3] While at NYU in 2004, Plaza suffered a stroke that caused temporary paralysis and expressive aphasia, but she has fully recovered.[3][9]
Career
Plaza has said that she has had many internships and that she "was an intern for Samba Post-Its." One of her jobs was to "literally wallpaper a bathroom with Post-Its." She also worked as an NBC page.
She has been performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater since 2004. She also recently began performing stand-up and has appeared at the Laugh Factory and The Improv. In 2008 she was seen 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 also appeared in the first episode of "Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz" on Funny or Die.[10]
She played Seth Rogen's love interest, Daisy, in 2009's Funny People directed by Judd Apatow. She also had roles in the comedy films 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 plays April Ludgate, the deadpan employee in Parks and Recreation, and 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 made a guest appearance in 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 early 2012, she was featured in Father John Misty (J. Tillman)'s music video for the song "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" from the album "Fear Fun".
In the summer of 2012, Plaza earned her first starring role in a major film, appearing alongside Mark Duplass in the comedy, Safety Not Guaranteed. In the movie, Plaza plays a jaded intern, named Darius, investigating a curious wanted ad seeking a companion for a time travelling adventure. Gary Thompson of the Philadelphia Inquirer questions whether this role is out of her usual "pretty slacker" range but finds her performance "compelling".[11]
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Mystery Team | Kelly | |
| 2009 | Funny People | Daisy Danby | |
| 2010 | Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | Julie Powers | |
| 2011 | Damsels in Distress | Debbie | |
| 2012 | Safety Not Guaranteed | Darius Britt | |
| 2012 | A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III | Marnie[12] | Post-production[13] |
| 2013 | The To Do List | Brandy |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Killswitch | Girl with massive head wound | Short |
| 2006 | In Love | Julie | Short |
| 2006 | 30 Rock | NBC page | 1 episode, "Tracy Does Conan" |
| 2007 | The Jeannie Tate Show | Tina Tate | |
| 2008 | Keith Powell Directs a Play | Stephanie | 4 episodes |
| 2008 | Mayne Street | Robin Gibney | 6 episodes |
| 2009–present | Parks and Recreation | April Ludgate | |
| 2011 | Portlandia | Beth/Bookstore Customer | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Food Network Star | Herself | Season 7, episode 9 |
References
- ^ Plaza, Aubrey (2012-03-01). "Aubrey Plaza Finally Confronts Her Multiple Personalities". Bullett Magazine.
- ^ Olsen, Mark (2009-08-03). "Aubrey Plaza: Funny person". Los Angeles Times. - interview lists her as 25
- ^ a b c d e f g John Micklos Jr. (2012-02-16). "Aubrey Plaza of NBC's Parks and Recreation: Wilmington Native Is Building a Buzz in Hollywood". Delaware Today.
- ^ Cormier, Ryan (2010-01-15). "From Wilmy to Hollywood". Delaware Online. The News Journal.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Cormier, Ryan (2010-01-17). "Hey, aren't you that funny girl?". The News Journal. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
- ^ a b Herrera, Monica (2009-04-09). "Parks & Recreation star Aubrey Plaza explains why she's so hot right now". Latina.
- ^ "Tracklist: Aubrey Plaza Rocks the Boat - BlackBook". Blackbookmag.com. 2010-03-11. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
- ^ Lee Hernández (2009-06-11). "This girl's no slouch". Nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
- ^ Letterman, David (2011-08-31). (Interview).
{{cite interview}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help); Unknown parameter|program=ignored (help) - ^ "Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz from Eric Appel, Ben Schwartz, and Aubrey Plaza". Funnyordie.com. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Thompson, Gary. "Aubrey Plaza shines in 'Safety Not Guaranteed'". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 6 July 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.
- ^ Sneider, Jeff (2011-10-05). "Aubrey Plaza joins cast of 'Charlie Swan'". Variety.
- ^ Coconi, Angeliki (2012-03-15). "Coming Soon: A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III". Unsungfilms.com.
External links
- Aubrey Plaza at IMDb
- Aubrey Plaza Videos - Plaza's video website
- Aubrey Plaza NBC Profile - Profile from Parks and Recreation
- Troopers web series