Aubrey Plaza

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Aubrey Plaza
Aubrey Plaza 2012 Shankbone.JPG
Plaza at the 2012 Time 100
Birth name Aubrey Christina Plaza
Born (1984-06-26) June 26, 1984 (age 28)
Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
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
Darius Britt in Safety Not Guaranteed'
Website 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 is a series regular in Parks and Recreation portraying the role of April Ludgate.

Plaza began her career as an intern. After performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, she appeared in the Web series The Jeannie Tate Show. Aubrey would later appear in films such as Funny People and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

In 2012, Plaza earned her first lead role in a major film, starring alongside Mark Duplass in the comedy Safety Not Guaranteed.

Contents

Early life [edit]

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 [edit]

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 performed improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater since 2004. She also performed stand-up and has appeared at the Laugh Factory and The Improv. In 2008, she participated 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]

Plaza at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2010

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, alongside Mark Duplass, in the comedy, Safety Not Guaranteed. In the film, Plaza plays Darius, a jaded intern who answers a curious want 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]

At the 2013 MTV Movie Awards, Plaza "jumped onstage and tried to wrestle the (Golden Popcorn Award) statue from Will Ferrell's hand" during his acceptance speech; Ferrell integrated the interaction into his monologue as a planned moment, but the unscripted interruption led to Plaza's ejection from the event and to media discussion of it being a Kanye West moment.[12]

Filmography [edit]

Film
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
2011 Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You Real Estate Agent
2012 Safety Not Guaranteed Darius Britt ALMA Award for Favorite Movie Actress Comedy/Musical[13]
Young Hollywood Award for Breakthrough Performance[14]
Nominated - Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress[15]
Nominated - Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Performance[16]
Nominated - St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress[17]
2012 A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III Marnie[18]
2012 Ten Years Olivia
2013 From Up on Poppy Hill Sachiko Hirokouji
2013 The To Do List Brandy
2013 Monsters University Claire Wheeler[19]
2013 A Many Splintered Thing post-production
Television
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 Jeannie Tate Show, TheThe 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
2012 NTSF:SD:SUV:: The Rememberer Season 2, Episode 12: Wasila Hills Cop

References [edit]

  1. ^ Plaza, Aubrey (2012-03-01). "Aubrey Plaza Finally Confronts Her Multiple Personalities". Bullett Magazine. 
  2. ^ Olsen, Mark (2009-08-03). "Aubrey Plaza: Funny person". Los Angeles Times.  - interview lists her as 25
  3. ^ 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. 
  4. ^ Cormier, Ryan (2010-01-15). "From Wilmy to Hollywood". Delaware Online. The News Journal. 
  5. ^ Cormier, Ryan (2010-01-17). "Hey, aren't you that funny girl?". The News Journal. Retrieved 2011-01-02. 
  6. ^ a b Herrera, Monica (2009-04-09). "Parks & Recreation star Aubrey Plaza explains why she's so hot right now". Latina. 
  7. ^ "Tracklist: Aubrey Plaza Rocks the Boat - BlackBook". Blackbookmag.com. 2010-03-11. Retrieved 2011-01-02. 
  8. ^ Lee Hernández (2009-06-11). "This girl's no slouch". Nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2011-01-02. 
  9. ^ Letterman, David (2011-08-31). (Interview). Late Show with David Letterman.
  10. ^ "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. 
  11. ^ 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." 
  12. ^ Vena, Jocelyn (April 14, 2013). "Aubrey Plaza asked to leave MTV Movie Awards after Will Ferrell stage crash". MTV News. Retrieved April 14, 2013. 
  13. ^ "ALMA Awards 2012: Winners And Show Highlights (VIDEO, PHOTOS)". Huffingtonpost.com. 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2012-12-26. 
  14. ^ "Parks & Recreations Star Aubrey Plaza Hilariously Disses Old People At Young Hollywood Awards". Hollywoodlife.com. 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2012-12-26. 
  15. ^ "BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD top Chlotrudis list with Seven Nominations Including Best Movie and Best Director!". chlotrudis.org. 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2013-01-22. 
  16. ^ "Gotham Awards: 'Beasts' snubbed for best picture, Mark Duplass double-dips as noms unveiled". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2012-12-26. 
  17. ^ Tapley, Kristopher (2012-12-11). "Django Unchained lands eight St. Louis film critics nods". Hitfix.com. Retrieved 2012-12-26. 
  18. ^ Sneider, Jeff (2011-10-05). "Aubrey Plaza joins cast of 'Charlie Swan'". Variety. 
  19. ^ Gallagher, Brian (April 15, 2013). "Monsters University Fraternity and Sorority Gallery". Movieweb.com. 

External links [edit]

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