Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She began her career performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. After graduating from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, she gained recognition for her role as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015). She then starred in the FX series Legion (2017–2019) and earned nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her starring role in the second season of the HBO series The White Lotus (2022).
Plaza made her film debut in Mystery Team (2009) and had her first leading film role in Safety Not Guaranteed (2012). She starred in the dark comedy films The Little Hours (2017) and Ingrid Goes West (2017), and the drama films Black Bear (2020) and Emily the Criminal (2022), all of which she also produced.
Aubrey Christina Plaza was born on June 26, 1984, in Wilmington, Delaware. She has two younger sisters. Her parents, Bernadette and David Plaza, were aged 19 and 20 respectively at the time of her birth. Plaza said she was inspired by their work ethic, as they worked various jobs and attended night school while she was growing up; her mother eventually became an attorney and her father became a financial advisor. Plaza's paternal family is Puerto Rican. Her paternal grandfather was born in Arecibo and moved to the mainland United States when he was 17 years old. She also has Taíno and Basque heritage. Her mother, who was adopted, is of Irish descent.
Plaza described herself as a shy child until middle school, when she began performing in community theater. Plaza said her upbringing was "very Catholic", and she attended Ursuline Academy, an all-girls Catholic school. As a teenager, she was student-council president of her school, performed in theatrical productions with the Wilmington Drama League and the Delaware Theatre Company, and made short films as a hobby. Inspired by her "hero" Amy Poehler, Plaza took improv classes in both New York and Philadelphia; she also attended a New York Film Academy summer camp for filmmaking.
During her time working at a local video store, Plaza became enamored with independent films, and discovered filmmakers that inspired her, such as John Waters and Christopher Guest. Waters' satirical film Serial Mom (1994) made a significant impact on her, and she connected with Waters' comedic sensibility. At age 16, she represented Ursuline at a Delaware youth leadership conference convened by Joe Biden. After graduating from Ursuline, Plaza studied film and television production at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.
Plaza trained and performed improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre starting in 2004. She described her work there as "an art form that is so fucking hard, and just so fun when you get it right." She also performed at the Laugh Factory and The Improv. She had an internship at Saturday Night Live for its 2004–2005 season, and then became an NBC page. During this apprenticeship, she appeared in a 2006 episode of the sitcom 30 Rock. Though being a page at 30 Rockefeller Plaza was a lower position than her SNL internship, it is a "legendary" and highly selective program. She was also in two short films in 2006, Killswitch and In Love. In 2008, she was part of an Improv Everywhere sketch where she and others took an entire desktop computer and monitor to a Starbucks in New York City. Plaza had a recurring role in Maggie Carey's web series The Jeannie Tate Show, played the role of Robin Gibney in ESPN's Mayne Street (2008), and appeared in the first episode of "Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz" on Funny or Die.
In 2009, she made her feature film debut in Derrick Comedy's Mystery Team. She then played a standup comic and Seth Rogen's love interest in the black comedy-drama film Funny People, directed by Judd Apatow. As she did not have experience performing standup, she signed up for open mic nights at comedy clubs and bars in New York City to prepare for the role. For her audition tape, she performed and recorded five minutes of standup comedy at her friend Donald Glover's standup show. When Plaza flew to Los Angeles for Funny People, the film's casting director Allison Jones asked her if she wanted to attend other meetings while she was in the city. Jones set up a meeting with Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, who were developing Parks and Recreation. At the meeting, they told her the idea for the show's pilot and that they were considering giving Amy Poehler's character an assistant who was a doltish blonde. Plaza pitched them instead the character of a smart intern who is at the department only for college credit and does not care about the job, which Plaza thought would be an interesting, comedic contrast with Poehler's character. They liked the concept for the character and created April Ludgate. Plaza, who said that in real life she was like Poehler's earnestly hard-working character, took inspiration from her younger sister for April's apathetic disposition. Plaza played the role from 2009 to 2015. She received praise for her performance, and April was considered one of the show's breakout characters.
2010–2016: Rise in film and television
While Plaza was in Los Angeles for Funny People and Parks and Recreation, Allison Jones also recommended that she audition for Edgar Wright's romantic action comedy film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). Plaza was cast in the film, playing the supporting character Julie Powers. 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 the breaks between filming Parks and Recreation seasons, Plaza appeared in other projects, films and television series. She appeared in a CollegeHumor short alongside Jason Bateman and Will Arnett. In 2011, she had a recurring role in the sketch comedy series Portlandia, and guest starred as "The Princess" in the comedic sci-fi web series Troopers on CollegeHumor. She also appeared in the comedy-drama film Damsels in Distress (2011) and the romantic comedy 10 Years (2011).In 2012, Plaza had her first starring role in a major film in the comedy Safety Not Guaranteed, playing a magazine intern who answers a curious want ad. Her performance received positive reviews, and she won the award for Breakthrough Performance (Female) at the 2012 Young Hollywood Awards. In 2013, she portrayed the character Sacagawea in the Drunk History episode "Nashville" during a segment on Lewis and Clark's expedition. In 2013, she also had the starring role in the CBS Film The To Do List. In an impromptu attempt to promote the film, Plaza ran onto the stage at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards and grabbed Will Ferrell's award for Comedic Genius, inspired by Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, with a drink in hand while the film's name was written across her chest. She was ejected from the studio lot where the ceremony was held.
Plaza voiced Eska in the animated fantasy action television series The Legend of Korra (2013–2014). She also voiced Grumpy Cat in the Lifetime Network's television film Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever (2014). Plaza starred in the 2014 horror comedy film Life After Beth about a young woman who returns from the dead, written and directed by Jeff Baena, and in Hal Hartley's drama film Ned Rifle (2014).
In 2016, Plaza starred in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates alongside Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, and Adam DeVine. Her role as the rebellious Tatiana earned her critical praise. Then, she was a guest star on HarmonQuest, as a gnome named "Hawaiian Coffee" and portrayed Aaron Burr in the "Hamilton" episode of Drunk History. She also provided a guest voice for the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Mall Girl Pearl" with Betty White. That same year, she portrayed Cat Adams, a contract killer, first in Season 11 of the CBS television series Criminal Minds, and then again in Season 12 and 15. Also in 2016 she played Lenore in Dirty Grandpa beside Zoey Deutch, Zac Efron and Robert De Niro.