Nobody nails deadpan humor better than Aubrey Plaza. But as the Parks and Recreation star enters her careerâs headlining phase, sheâs out to prove she can do more than droll eye rolls.
This feature appears in Complex's April/May 2013 issue.
Aubrey Plaza had a really good feeling about this one.
Scrolling through the options on her iPhoneâs Petfinder app late last year, the sardonic, scene-stealing co-star of NBCâs hit sitcom Parks and Recreation knew sheâd find the perfect dog in âa spiritual kind of way.â When she came across a Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever, the 28-year-old actress/comedian felt a connection.
The brown-haired pooch, whom she named Frances (her childhood hero Judy Garlandâs government name), came with a touching backstory. Frances was rescued from a construction site, where she took care of a second, pregnant canine. Frightened around people, Frances was adopted by owners who sent her back a week later for being perpetually freaked out.
âIâm teaching her how not to be scared of everything,â says Plaza. âSheâs a lot like me: She doesnât like to be around too many people. She likes to be home doing quiet activities.â
Itâs a picturesque late-January afternoon in Los Angelesâ Griffith Park. Joggers with iPods sprint past couples walking hand in hand and women pushing baby strollers. Today is the first time Frances has been in a crowd since Plaza adopted her two weeks earlier. Any attempt to pet Francesâby anyone other than Plaza, that isâis met with lowered ears and startled eyes. As Plaza sips on an iced mocha, a little girl asks if she can âpet the puppy.â
âSheâs a baby,â says Plaza, âso sheâs a little nervous.â As if on cue, Frances cowers from the pint-size strangerâs fingertips like theyâre Freddy Kruegerâs razor blades, before retreating to Plazaâs side.
Plaza can relate to Francesâ leave-me-be mood. Raised in Wilmington, DE by a Puerto Rican financial advisor (her father, David) and an Irish attorney (her mother, Bernadette), Plaza attended NYUâs Tisch School for the Arts, where she âdidnât make any friendsâ but did secure an internship at Saturday Night Live. After landing a spot in the Upright Citizens Brigade improv troupe, Plaza scored prime roles in Judd Apatowâs dramedy Funny People and the aforementioned Parks and Recreation before moving to Los Angeles in 2009.
Unlike April, [Aubrey] is really open and light and a secret goofball. Plus, sheâs part witch, so she can turn you into dust. Watch what you say about her.â
âAmy Poehler
âIâve always been outgoing, but Iâve never been social,â says Plaza, who likes living in L.A. because âI get to hang out at my house and hide.â Those days may soon be over. Parks and Recreation is now in its fifth season, and her role as the perennially disinterested April Ludgate keeps her away from home 12 hours a day. The showâs success has made her increasingly in demand. Last year, Plaza led the quirky, critically adored indie time-travel flick Safety Not Guaranteed. This August, sheâll star in her biggest movie yet, the raunchy, R-rated comedy The To Do List, in which she plays a high school valedictorian who vows to complete a series of sexual acts before beginning college.
âAubrey always makes surprising choices,â says her Parks co-star Amy Poehler. âShe took the character of April and made her this multi-dimensional person. Scary and soft. And always hilarious. Unlike April, she is really open and light and a secret goofball. Plus, sheâs part witch, so she can turn you into dust. Watch what you say about her.â
Plaza has been known for her work in Funny People and Parks, playing characters that require her to, in her words, âcome into a couple scenes, say some funny shit, and then peace out.â Now sheâs ready to become a comedic headliner. âI want to be a leading lady,â she says. âI want to just go for it, Sandra Bullock style. I know I can do it.â
How long have you wanted to be an actress?
I always knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to be both a comedian and an actor. I got really into Saturday Night Live. I became obsessed with the idea of being on that show. I started doing improv. I always had a goal. I never had a time in my life where I thought, I donât know what I want to do. It was always me saying, âI know what I want to do and I want to do it now!â
What did you like about Saturday Night Live?
My mom would let me stay up late to watch it. When I was younger, it had that really good cast, with Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, and Molly Shannon. I remember watching it and thinking, Those people get paid to do that? That must be the most fun thing ever. So I was like, Iâm definitely going to put all of my energy into trying to do that.
While interning at Saturday Night Live, were you able to learn anything about comedy?
Yeah, totally. I felt like I was undercover, learning about everything. I read every sketch. I was stealing script pages and putting them in my bag. I would take them home, study them, and say to myself, âSo this is how you write a sketch!â
Were you ever able to chat with the other cast members?
Not really. I could have, but I'm not really like that. I was kind of quiet. I just wanted to do my thing and not get into anyone else's space. Amy [Poehler] was working there that season and I never once talked to her.
When you started on Parks, did she remember you at all?
No, but I told her. She was like, âOh, my God!â She kind of recognized me, but I didn't really talk to anyone at that time.
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Did comedy come naturally to you?
I guess so. I was always trying to make people laugh.
How would you make people laugh?
I looked at everything as an opportunity for comedy. Like, instead of doing my school assignment normally, I would beg my teacher, âCan I please make a movie?â Iâd turn it into a video assignment and do something crazy. Iâm still like that. When I was living in New York, I would only take jobs that could be funnyânever for practical or smart financial reasons. Iâd be like, âIt would be hilarious if I worked in a bowling alley.â
What sparked your interest in Upright Citizens Brigade?
I was online, researching how people got on Saturday Night Live. [Laughs.] I saw that if you were in L.A. you did the Groundlings, and if you were in New York you did UCB. I knew that Amy Poehler started UCB, and Tina Fey and a lot of other people did it. I had a couple of older friends taking classes there who were like, âThis is the place to be,â so I knew I needed to be there.
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When I was living in New York, I would only take jobs that could be funnyânever for practical or smart financial reasons. Iâd be like, 'It would be hilarious if I worked in a bowling alley.'
You went to NYU for film school. When did comedy become more appealing?
Filmmaking is something Iâve always wanted to do. Itâs something that Iâm still planning on doing. I just let the winds take me where they take me. The comedy stuff started working. Thereâs no set way to be an actor. People are always asking me, âHow do I get an agent? How do I do stuff?â Itâs kind of like the Wild West: every man for himself. But UCB was a structured program I could see results from.
The biggest result so far has been Parks and Recreation. Didnât co-creator Greg Daniels write the part of April Ludgate for you?
Yeah. I came out to L.A. to have a couple meetings, and one was with Greg Daniels and [Parks co-creator] Mike Schur. They hadnât written the script, they just had a general idea of what it was. So I met them way early in the process. The only people attached to the show were Amy, Rashida [Jones], and Aziz [Ansari], but they didnât even know their characters yet. I didnât realize how important that meeting was. [Laughs.] I was like, âHey, Iâve never been to L.A., so whatever.â I showed up in jean shorts and was just a weirdo.
Clearly, it worked out for you.
We started talking casually, and I threw out a couple of ideas. âWouldnât it be funny if they had a college intern who didnât really want to be there and was only there for the college credit?â And they said, âThatâd be really funny.â I found out later that they wrote me into the pilot, and they even used my name. But then I had to audition for it. I just went in and read on tape, but they changed the characterâs name from Aubrey to April so I wouldnât think that it was written for me. [Laughs.] I pretty much had it in the bag, but I didnât know it.
How has Parks helped you grow as an actor?
Itâs taught me everything. The biggest thing is gaining experience from doing it every day, so getting to work on the show for so many years has been the best thing for me. And itâs nice that the character I play on that show is pretty close to home. It feels like a part of me, something Iâve created. When I do movies or other projects I can say I want to do something different.
So the strategy is to find characters who are nothing like April?
The strategy is a good script and a good director. [Laughs.] Which you think would be a no-brainer, but itâs hard. Itâs a crap shoot; you never know what youâre gonna get. A couple things Iâve done have a similar vibe to April. I got caught up in that for a while. People would say, âShe just does the same thing all the time,â but Iâm me, so whatever I do is going to be a part of me.
Youâre aware that people pigeonhole you as this one-note, deadpan comedian?
One Safety Not Guaranteed review said, âEven Aubrey Plaza would have to roll her eyes at it.â
Of course. The first thing everyone saw me in was Funny People, and then I did Scott Pilgrim and then Parks. Those three characters all have a similar fuck-you attitude. Iâm good at that because I have that attitude myself. [Laughs.] But it doesnât mean thatâs all I can do. Those are just the parts I got. I try to look at it as a positive thing, as an opportunity to surprise people. If people have those expectations of me, itâs fun to do something totally different. I can be like, âOK, so how about this kind of fuck-you character?â [Laughs.]
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Is your character in The To Do List different from April?
Yeah, The To Do List is gonna be fun because Iâm not sarcastic, depressed, or weird in it. Iâm a type-A, almost obnoxious kind of girl. I wanted to do something where Iâm not the weirdo whoâs in the back of the classroom for a change. I want to be the girl whoâs in the front of the classroom raising her hand.
Growing up, were you the girl in the back of the classroom?
No, I was more like the girl in the front. I think thatâs something people would be surprised about. Even though Iâm similar to April in that Iâm sarcastic or whatever, I was never âthe sarcastic girl,â even when I was starting out. When I was doing sketch comedy, I was doing all kinds of characters.
Youâll say to yourself, 'I shouldnât be watching a girl learning how to give a hand job.' But girls give hand jobs sometimes, so deal with it.
Was starring in Safety Not Guaranteed scary?
It was terrifying. That character carries the movie. My emotional arc had to make sense and get people through the movie. That part was actually written for me. It felt like an organic way to be a lead in a movie by taking on something I knewâat least the first part of the movie. The depressed intern? I definitely know how to do that. [Laughs.]
You say you want to be a leading lady, but that would mean you canât hide out in your house anymore. Is that intimidating?
I donât know. I kind of forget about that part, being famous. Iâm not factoring it into my decision-making process. But, yeah, it would definitely suck if I wasnât able to do normal things anymore. The goal is to have control over my career, and at this point I donât have that much control. Iâm not a big, huge star, so I donât get to call the shots. Iâm still hustling to get my next job. The goal is to be in a position where I can say, âI want to do that, and I donât want to do that.â
Do you enjoy going on talk shows?
Iâm getting better at doing interviews, but itâs not something Iâm totally comfortable with. I try to treat talk shows like fun performance art pieces.
Thatâs clear from your talk show appearances.
People must think I have a plan. I end up being weird because I canât be normal in those situations. Youâre supposed to pretend youâre having this spontaneous conversation when, really, itâs all planned, and that goes against every instinct in my body. I canât get on that rhythm, so it ends up being awkward. People must watch those shows and think Iâm weird or on drugs. Half of them probably think itâs funny and the other half are annoyed.
That plays into the perception that youâre just like April on Parks.
I think about that, but then I try to remember that thereâs nothing I can do about it. On talk shows, part of me wants people to like me! [Laughs.] I feel like shouting, âLike me, everyone!â But what am I gonna do? I just gotta do my thing.
Is there anything you wouldnât do in a role?
I did everything in The To Do List. I never had to do a sex scene or anything too sexual before this movie, but I do everything in it.
Is it weird to think that men find you attractive?
Yeah, itâs weird. I donât have a great perspective on it. I didnât grow up thinking I was attractive. I was cool, but not in the hot cheerleader way, so I donât have that mentality. I definitely wasnât killing it in the guy department back in school. [Laughs.] But I realized I could be the funny one, so I did that. The guy stuff didnât come until later for me.
Do you relate to your character in The To Do List in that way?
I relate to her a lot, which is funny because sheâs so annoying. [Laughs.] Thereâs a lot of stuff I tapped into from being 13. Itâs a really weird age. I donât think thereâs ever been a good movie about a girl losing her virginity. I think itâll rub some people the wrong way. Itâs like this Superbad, American Pie teen sex comedy but from a girlâs perspective. So it feels very wrong. Youâll say to yourself, âI shouldnât be watching a girl learning how to give a hand job.â But girls give hand jobs sometimes, so deal with it. [Laughs.]
You have a younger sister, Renee, whoâs 16. She must be the perfect audience for the movie.
Iâve shown her the trailer. Itâs pretty dirty. I showed it to a ton of my cousins in that age range. I wondered if guys would like it too, but all my guy cousins loved it. Thereâs so much penis humor. My sister liked it, but she was a little uncomfortable. Thereâs a scene where Iâm masturbating angrily. How awkward must that be for her? [Laughs.] Thereâs a lot of stuff that will be weird for my family.
It seems like a good time to be a female comedian, what with HBOâs Girls and the post-Bridesmaids wave of female-driven projects.
We actually shot the movie before Girls and Bridesmaids came out. We shot it two summers ago. Itâs taken a long time to come out. But maybe thatâll be a good thing. Thereâs still not as many good parts for girls, but itâs a good time for the movie because thereâs been an ongoing discussion about girls embracing sexuality.
Comedians talk about how their comedy comes from a dark place of insecurity. Can you relate?
Yeah, totally. Growing up, I had a weird combination of insecurity and not caring about what people thought about me. Thatâs still how I am to this day. Itâs a good thing. As things get bigger for me, that mentality will help.
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WATCH AUBREY PLAZA's EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW:
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