STANDING OUT in a movie with Seth Rogen can’t be easy, but that’s just what New York transplant Aubrey Plaza has done in the new Judd Apatow comedy “Funny People.”

“By the way,” Post film critic Kyle Smith wrote in his review, “remember this actress’ name: Aubrey Plaza. She’s awesome.”

That name, as the 25-year-old recently explained, is an unusual combination: Plaza, she says, is “Puerto Rican Spanish,” while Aubrey was inspired by the title of a song by band Bread in the ’70s.

A native of Delaware, Plaza has been making her comic mark since starting college at New York University — a school she chose partly for its proximity to famed comedy group The Upright Citizens Brigade.

A former intern on “Saturday Night Live,” she’s worked on two shows featuring female alums of the late night show, doing a quick turn as an NBC page on Tina Fey’s “30 Rock,” and more recently enjoying a regular part on Amy Poehler’s “Parks and Recreation.”

Named a “Hot Comic” by Rolling Stone and one of “10 Comics to Watch” by Variety, Plaza is maintaining momentum with an indie movie, “Mystery Team,” out this year. Also in the can is a project with a name as memorable as her own: “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” a comedy with Michael Cera set for release next year.

“Funny People” is in theaters now.

From the New York Post

Aubrey Plaza is not a new hipster hangout downtown.

She’s a young and adorable comic actress from Wilmington, Del.

And she’s had quite the career launch playing Seth Rogen’s girlfriend in Judd Apatow’s “Funny People,” which stars comedy legend Adam Sandler.

You may recognize her intern role on “Parks and Recreation.” And you might have caught her in the online series “The Jeannie Tate Show.”

Or if you are really in the know, you may have even seen her hilarious, off-color “Aubrey Plaza does Sarah Silverman” impersonation on YouTube.

Apatow did, just before he cast her in “Funny People.”

So did the real Sarah Silverman. Gulp.

“When I did that, it was so long ago, and it was for my first SNL audition DVD. I never would have thought so many people would see it or that she would see it,” Plaza said.

Audrey met Sarah backstage after a show, and Silverman told her, “I know who you are. I’ve seen it.”

“I was a little scared, but she really liked it and thought it was funny. She was totally cool about it.”

We’ve asked Aubrey some personality-revealing either/or questions. Read on!

Britney Spears or Lady Gaga?

“Britney, I guess. She’s the real deal and she’s been around.”

Tina Fey or Sarah Palin?

“Tina Fey, all the way. She’s my hero for sure.”

H&M or Target?

“Target, because I can buy picture frames and cleaning supplies.”

“Battlestar Galactica” or “Lost”?

“I’m a huge ‘Lost’ fan.”

Michael Jackson: murder or suicide?

“That’s really dark. Neither, question mark?”

Jonas Brothers or Justin Timberlake?

“My little sister would kill me if I don’t pick the Jonas Brothers, but I have to go with Justin.”

Taylor Lautner or Robert Pattinson?

“Pattinson all the way.”

Text or e-mail?

“E-mails. I have an iPhone and when I text, people think I’m drunk, because my fingers don’t ever hit the right letters.”

Facebook or Twitter?

“I am on Twitter, but you can spy on people better on Facebook.”

What’s your go-to website?

“I go to the Drudge Report a lot.”

Last person you hugged?

“I just hugged Jonah Hill. I hadn’t seen him in a while.”

Who would you to kiss onscreen?

“Jeff Goldblum. He’s dangerous, but that sounds fun.”

From the Los Angeles Times

AUBREY PLAZA – RISING STAR STANDING OUT in a movie with comedian Seth Rogen can’t be easy, but that’s just what New York transplant Aubrey Plaza has done in the new Judd Apatow comedy “Funny People.” “By the way,” Post film critic Kyle Smith wrote in his review, “remember this actress’ name: Aubrey Plaza. She’s awesome.” That name, as the 25-yearold recently explained, is an unusual combination: Plaza, she says, is “Puerto Rican Spanish,” while Aubrey was inspired by the title of a song by band Bread in the ’70s. A native of Delaware, Plaza has been making her comic mark since her college days at New York University – a school she chose for its proximity to famed comedy group the Upright Citizens Brigade. A former intern on “Saturday Night Live,” she’s worked on two shows featuring female alums of the latenight show, Tina Fey’s “30 Rock,” and Amy Poehler’s “Parks and Recreation.” Named a “Hot Comic” by Rolling Stone and one of “10 Comics to Watch” by Variety, Plaza is maintaining momentum with an indie movie, “Mystery Team,” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” a comedy with Michael Cera set for release next year.

From the California Chronicle

It was just about this time last summer when life changed in a big way for Aubrey Plaza, who can currently be seen as Seth Rogen’s love interest in the new Judd Apatow film “Funny People.” She had come to Los Angeles from New York for a final audition for her role in the Apatow film and in short order also landed a part in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” — the next film from “Hot Fuzz” director Edgar Wright — as well as a supporting role as a blasé intern on the NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation.”

“I went literally from doing nothing to getting all three in the same week,” Plaza said. “It’s kind of a crazy story, how all this stuff happened to me.”

In “Funny People,” Plaza plays Daisy, an L.A. arriviste who is a neighbor to the competitive young comedians played by Rogen, Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill. Also an aspiring stand-up, she soon becomes enmeshed in a romantic triangle with Rogen, who just landed a job as assistant to a more established performer played by Adam Sandler, and Schwartzman, star of a cheese-ball sitcom called “Yo Teach . . . !”

Even before landing her role in “Funny People,” Plaza, 25, was already working her way up the comedy food chain. A self-described “comedy nerd,” she left her native Delaware for New York University in part to be near the Upright Citizens Brigade theater, a popular breeding group for young performers. She was an intern at “Saturday Night Live” before moving on to being an actual NBC page. She appeared in a series of online videos, including the popular faux-soccer-mom talk show “The Jeannie Tate Show.” She can also be seen in the independent film “Mystery Team,” which will be released in the fall.

Among the online videos she posted was an impression she was working on for her “SNL” showcase audition of the notoriously potty-mouthed comedian Sarah Silverman.

“It’s funny because back in the day, last year, I put everything on YouTube because that’s what people do,” Plaza said. “I didn’t put it there ever thinking (a) anyone would watch it, (b) she would watch it, (c) I would have to respond to it. People keep saying, ‘I’ve seen you do stand-up on YouTube.’ That’s not me doing stand-up. That’s me being Sarah Silverman.”

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For Funny People, which is essentially a movie about comedians, in varying degrees of success in their careers, writer/director Judd Apatow cast real stand-up comics, including co-stars Aziz Ansari and newcomer Aubrey Plaza.

Taking an innovative approach by making her own live stand-up audition tape and posting it on YouTube, Aubrey Plaza was immediately offered the role of Daisy, the love interest to Seth Rogen’s character, Ira. And, Plaza’s Parks and Recreation co-star Aziz Ansari was cast as the hyperkinetic Randy, a comic that other performers love to hate.

At the film’s press day, the actors both talked about how their current success has changed their lives and careers.

Q: Aubrey, how did you get cast in this film? You do stand-up and had a friend shoot it, and then stuck it on YouTube. Did your agent tell you to do that?

Aubrey: I did that on my own, actually. I knew that they wanted to cast a stand-up, and I hadn’t really done it before, so I just decided to try it and I had my friend shoot it.

Q: How was that experience?

Aubrey: It was totally terrifying, but it was good. It had a good outcome.

Q: Do you write your own stuff, all the time?

Aubrey: Yeah. I wrote all my stand-up in the movie, and all the stand-up that I do now.

Q: What was it like to work with Judd? How much freedom did he give you?

Aubrey: With the stand-up, he gave me total freedom. He liked what I was doing, so he let me go with it. And, in the scenes, it was all in the script, but he definitely let us, on our feet, rewrite some things and play around. He was really good about giving us freedom.

Aziz: For my character, he was really cool about being open to any ideas I had, not only with the stand-up, but with the character traits and attitudes and stuff. It was really collaborative.

Q: Having done a full stand-up routine, were you surprised by how much or how little stand-up ended up in the actual film?

Aziz: I think we all assumed that he wouldn’t use a ton of the stand-up, so no.

Q: How much will end up on the DVD?

Aziz: We shot so much standup, that there’ll be so much on the DVD. We did, six different shows in the comedy clubs, and then there was the show at the Orpheum Theater. They shot hours of stand-up.

Aubrey: And, they would follow me, no matter how small the show was that I was doing. They would even film open mic nights.

Aziz: As soon as we starred doing stand-up for the movie, getting our characters ready and stuff, they were filming every show we did, like at UCB Theater and places like that.

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