Aubrey Plaza is a versatile actress and producer who has been critically praised for her performances in both drama and comedy.
Aubrey received rave reviews for starring in John Patton Ford’s EMILY THE CRIMINAL which she produced under her Evil Hag Productions Company. For her performance, Plaza was nominated for a 2022 Gotham Award and 2023 Independent Spirit Award for “Best Lead Performance,” the 2023 Latino Entertainment Journalists Association Film Award for “Best Actress in a Leading Role,” and she received the “Artist of Distinction Award” at the 2022 Newport Beach Film Festival. The film, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, won the 2023 Independent Spirit Award for “Best First Screenplay” and was nominated for “Best First Feature.” The film was honored by the National Board of Review as one of their “Top 10 Independent Films of 2022” and Barack Obama listed the film as one of the best films of 2022.
Most recently, Plaza starred in Mike White’s THE WHITE LOTUS for HBO. For her performance, she won a 2023 Screen Actors Guild Award for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series” and was nominated for a 2023 Golden Globe Award for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.” THE WHITE LOTUS won the 2023 Golden Globe Award for “Best Television Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture made for Television” and was recognized by the AFI as one of the “2022 Top Television Programs of the Year.”
Plaza will next star in Francis Ford Coppola’s feature, MEGALOPOLIS opposite Adam Driver, Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Chloe Fineman, and Shia LaBeouf. And she is currently in production on the Marvel series, AGATHA: COVEN OF CHAOS, opposite Kathryn Hahn for Disney+.
Plaza received critical acclaim for starring in Lawrence Michael Levine's suspenseful meta-drama, BLACK BEAR, which she produced. For her performance in the film, she won the 2021 Imagen Award for “Best Actress – Feature Film.” BLACK BEAR premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and co-starred Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon. Plaza also starred in Clea DuVall’s ensemble feature, HAPPIEST SEASON alongside Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis and Dan Levy. The film won the 2021 GLAAD Media Award for “Outstanding Film – Wide Release.” Additionally, audiences fell in love with Plaza’s character, resulting in her performance and storyline going viral.
Plaza has been lauded for her performance in INGRID GOES WEST which she produced. As a producer, she won the 2018 Independent Spirit Award for “Best First Feature.”
Plaza’s other film credits include starring in Guy Ritchie’s OPERATION FORTUNE: RUE DE GUERRE opposite Jason Statham, BEST SELLERS opposite Michael Caine; Jeff Baena’s THE LITTLE HOURS (which she produced), SPIN ME ROUND and LIFE AFTER BETH; MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES opposite Anna Kendrick and Zac Efron; DIRTY GRANDPA opposite Robert De Niro; Maggie Carey’s THE TO DO LIST; Jim Hosking’s AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN; CHILD’S PLAY with Brian Tyree Henry; Edgar Wright's SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, Judd Apatow's FUNNY PEOPLE; and Colin Trevorrow’s Independent Spirit Award-Winning, SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED opposite Mark Duplass and Jake Johnson (which garnered Plaza the 2012 ALMA Award for “Favorite Movie Actress – Comedy/Musical”).
On television, Plaza is best known for portraying April Ludgate on the Emmy nominated and Peabody Award winning comedy series, PARKS AND RECREATION with Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, Nick Offerman, among others. Her performance garnered her nominations for the 2014 American Comedy Award for “Best Comedy Supporting Actress,” the Alma Award for "Favorite TV Actress" in 2011 and 2012, and the Imagen Foundation Award for “Best Supporting Actress/Television” in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Additionally, Plaza starred in Noah Hawley’s FX series, LEGION which was based on the Marvel Comic of the same name. For her performance, Aubrey was nominated for a 2018 MTV Movie & TV Award for “Best Villain” and an Imagen Award for “Best Actress,” and LEGION was nominated for a 2018 Peabody Award and a GLAAD Media Award. Additionally, she voiced ‘Grumpy Cat’ in the 2014 television movie GRUMPY CAT’S WORST CHRISTMAS EVER. Currently, she teamed up with Danny DeVito and Dan Harmon and executive produced the FX animated series, LITTLE DEMON in which she voices a lead character.
As an author, Plaza released her first Children’s book, THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS WITCH which she co-wrote with Dan Murphy. The story follows Kristtörn, the forgotten sister of Santa Claus and was distributed by Penguin Random House in 2021. The sequel, THE RETURN OF THE CHRISTMAS WITCH, was released on October 11, 2022.
Plaza hosted and produced the Film Independent Spirit Awards in 2019 and 2020. For the 2020 Awards, she won the 2020 Emmy Award for “Outstanding Writing for a Special Class Special.” And prior to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater closing, she had been performing improv and sketch comedy there since 2004.
