Aubrey Plaza | Celebrity Net Worth 2026

Biography & Early Wealth Journey

Aubrey Plaza first gained widespread recognition as the hilariously deadpan April Ludgate on NBC's "Parks and Recreation," but she has spent the years since deliberately avoiding being trapped by that persona. After beginning in improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Plaza broke through almost simultaneously in "Parks and Recreation," "Funny People," and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World." She subsequently emerged as a leading figure in independent film through "Safety Not Guaranteed," "Ingrid Goes West," "Black Bear," and "Emily the Criminal," increasingly serving as a producer as well as an actress. Her performance as Harper Spiller on the second season of HBO's "The White Lotus" earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, while later projects including "Megalopolis," "My Old Ass," Marvel's "Agatha All Along," and "Honey Don't!" expanded her profile further. Plaza has also moved into developing her own material, co-creating and executive producing the animated Amazon series "Kevin." Her career has become notable for its unusual mix of mainstream comedy, psychological drama, horror, independent film, prestige television, voice work, and producing.

Early Life

Aubrey Christina Plaza was born on June 26, 1984, in Wilmington, Delaware. Her father, David Plaza, worked as a financial advisor, while her mother, Bernadette, was an attorney. Aubrey is the oldest of three daughters and has younger sisters named Natalie and Renee.

Her father is Puerto Rican, while her mother has Irish and English ancestry. Plaza was raised Catholic and attended Ursuline Academy, an all-girls Catholic school in Wilmington. She became involved with the Wilmington Drama League while young and served as student council president in high school.

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Plaza moved to New York to attend the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where she studied film and television production. While still a student, she began taking improv classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, the comedy institution co-founded by performers including Amy Poehler.

She also interned in the design department at "Saturday Night Live" and worked as an NBC page at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Plaza graduated from NYU in 2006.

Comedy Beginnings

After college, Plaza continued performing improv and sketch comedy with Upright Citizens Brigade while also trying stand-up at venues including the Laugh Factory and The Improv.

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Her distinctive deadpan delivery was already apparent in early online projects such as "The Jeannie Tate Show." Plaza became part of a generation of comedians whose careers developed simultaneously through live comedy, web videos, television, and independent film.

Her breakthrough came extraordinarily quickly. During a short trip to Los Angeles in 2008, Plaza auditioned for three major projects: Judd Apatow's "Funny People," Edgar Wright's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," and a new NBC comedy that became "Parks and Recreation." She landed roles in all three.

In "Funny People," Plaza appeared opposite Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, and Leslie Mann. In "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," she played the memorably hostile Julie Powers.

"Parks and Recreation"

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Plaza's defining early role came as April Ludgate on "Parks and Recreation." The character was reportedly developed partly around Plaza's own unusual comic personality after casting director Allison Jones introduced her to series co-creator Michael Schur.

April began as an apathetic young intern in the Pawnee parks department and gradually evolved into one of the show's central characters. Her relationship with Andy Dwyer, played by Chris Pratt, became one of the sitcom's most popular storylines.

"Parks and Recreation" initially struggled in the ratings but developed into one of the most acclaimed television comedies of its era. Plaza appeared throughout its seven-season run from 2009 to 2015, alongside Amy Poehler, Pratt, Rashida Jones, Nick Offerman, Aziz Ansari, Retta, and Adam Scott.

The role established Plaza's public image as sarcastic, awkward, and unpredictable. Rather than spend the rest of her career repeating April Ludgate, however, she began choosing roles designed to complicate that image.

"Safety Not Guaranteed" and Film Career

Plaza received her first major film leading role in the 2012 independent comedy "Safety Not Guaranteed." She played Darius, a disillusioned magazine intern investigating a man who places a classified advertisement seeking a companion for supposed time travel.

The movie became a Sundance success and proved that Plaza could anchor a feature while adding emotional vulnerability beneath her familiar deadpan delivery.

She followed with starring and supporting roles in "The To Do List," "Life After Beth," "Dirty Grandpa," and "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates."

"Life After Beth," released in 2014, was particularly important personally and professionally. The zombie comedy was directed by Jeff Baena, who became Plaza's longtime partner and frequent collaborator.

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"Ingrid Goes West" and Producing

Plaza began taking greater control of her projects during the second half of the 2010s.

She starred in and produced 2017's "Ingrid Goes West," playing an obsessive woman who moves to Los Angeles and attempts to infiltrate the life of an Instagram influencer played by Elizabeth Olsen.

The dark comedy became one of Plaza's most acclaimed films and won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, an award shared by the director and producing team, including Plaza.

That same year, she starred in and produced Jeff Baena's medieval comedy "The Little Hours." Plaza's decision to work as a producer became increasingly important to her career, giving her more control over the kinds of complicated and unconventional characters she wanted to play.

"Legion," "Black Bear," and Dramatic Roles

From 2017 through 2019, Plaza starred in FX's surreal superhero series "Legion." She initially appeared as Lenny Busker before the character and performance evolved into something far stranger and more expansive. The series gave Plaza an opportunity to combine comedy, menace, physical performance, and drama within the same role.

She continued pushing further away from conventional comedy in the 2020 psychological drama "Black Bear." Plaza played an actress-filmmaker named Allison in a deliberately disorienting story structured in distinct sections. Her performance received some of the strongest reviews of her career.

Plaza also starred that year in the holiday romantic comedy "Happiest Season."

Her dramatic reinvention continued with 2022's "Emily the Criminal." Plaza played a woman burdened by debt who becomes involved in a credit-card fraud operation. She also produced the film.

"Emily the Criminal" became a critical success, and Plaza received Independent Spirit and Gotham Award nominations for her performance. The role was particularly important in demonstrating that her acting could work without the ironic comic distance audiences had long associated with her.

"The White Lotus"

Plaza reached another level of mainstream recognition when she joined the second season of Mike White's HBO series "The White Lotus" in 2022.

She played Harper Spiller, an attorney vacationing in Sicily with her husband and another wealthy couple. The character's suspicion, discomfort, jealousy, and increasingly complicated marriage allowed Plaza to use her dry comic instincts inside a much darker dramatic performance.

The season became a major cultural phenomenon. Plaza earned nominations for both the Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe for her performance, while the ensemble won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

The role placed Plaza alongside performers including Jennifer Coolidge, F. Murray Abraham, Theo James, and Michael Imperioli and further established her as a prestige television actress rather than simply a comedy star.

"Megalopolis," "Agatha All Along," and Later Work

Plaza had an unusually busy stretch in 2024. She appeared as the older version of Elliott in the acclaimed coming-of-age comedy "My Old Ass" and played the flamboyant television personality Wow Platinum in Francis Ford Coppola's ambitious science-fiction epic "Megalopolis."

She simultaneously entered the Marvel universe through Disney+'s "Agatha All Along." Plaza played Rio Vidal opposite Kathryn Hahn, with the series eventually revealing the character's larger identity as Death. The role became one of Plaza's most prominent television performances since "The White Lotus."

In 2025, Plaza appeared alongside Margaret Qualley and Chris Evans in Ethan Coen's dark comedy "Honey Don't!"

She also returned to independent filmmaking with "The Accompanist," starring alongside Susan Sarandon and Everly Carganilla. Plaza played a child-welfare agent and also served as a producer on the film, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival in 2026.

Plaza further expanded into television creation with "Kevin," an adult animated comedy she co-created with Joe Wengert. The Amazon series features Jason Schwartzman as a neurotic cat navigating life in an animal shelter. Plaza serves as a writer, executive producer, and voice performer.

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Jeff Baena

Plaza began dating writer-director Jeff Baena in 2011. The couple collaborated frequently, with Plaza appearing in his films "Life After Beth," "Joshy," "The Little Hours," and "Spin Me Round." She also worked with him on the television anthology "Cinema Toast."

After about a decade together, Plaza revealed in 2021 that she and Baena had married.

Baena died on January 3, 2025, at the age of 47. His death was ruled a suicide. Plaza and Baena had separated several months earlier but remained married at the time of his death.

Plaza subsequently described the grief as something she continued to carry rather than an experience that simply disappeared with time.

Christopher Abbott and Motherhood

Plaza had known actor Christopher Abbott professionally for years before the two became a couple. They starred together in "Black Bear" and reunited onstage in the 2023 off-Broadway production of "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea."

Their romantic relationship became public in 2026. Plaza confirmed that she was expecting her first child that April, and the couple welcomed a daughter later that summer.

Health

Plaza experienced a serious medical emergency while attending NYU. At age 20, she suffered a stroke that caused expressive aphasia and temporary paralysis.

Although she remained conscious and could understand what people were saying, she temporarily lost the ability to communicate normally. She eventually made a full recovery.

Plaza later experienced a transient ischemic attack while working on "Parks and Recreation." She again recovered and continued working.

Real Estate

In July 2016, Plaza paid $1.6 million for a home in the Hollywood Hills. She listed that property in August 2022 for $2.25 million and sold it shortly thereafter for close to the asking price.

In October 2022, Plaza and Jeff Baena paid $4.7 million for a larger Hollywood Hills residence. After Baena's death, Plaza listed the home for $6.5 million in September 2025.

The property remained on the market for nearly a year. In September 2026, Plaza sold it for $4.375 million. The final price was $325,000 below what she and Baena had paid in 2022, before accounting for real estate commissions, carrying costs, improvements, and other transaction expenses.

Plaza

Elizabeth Winstead