Aubrey was interviewed by Oyster magazine. You can find pics in the gallery and the interview below!
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As a journalist whose CV is almost exclusively made up of interviews, I have met my fair share of intimidating interview subjects. No interviewee, however, has generated as much pre-game nail-biting as Aubrey Plaza. Miss Plaza is the comedic actress best known for playing Pawnee Town Hall employee April Ludgate on the hilarious sitcom Parks and Recreation. Although Plaza has appeared in a slew of hit movies — Funny People, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and the soon-to-be-released Safety Not Guaranteed — it’s the sarcastic and wholly apathetic April that she’s best known for. I’m afraid of April — but luckily, as it turns out, Aubrey is nothing like her.
Jason Crombie: Aubrey, you’re a comedian and an actress.
Aubrey Plaza: Yes.And you’re 27?
I’m 27, yeah. I turned 27 in June.Happy birthday!
Thanks.And you’re from Delaware.
I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, yeah.Do you remember that scene in Wayne’s World where they diss Delaware?
Yes. That’s, like, the number one thing people say to me when I say I’m from Delaware. They go, “Hi. We’re in Delaware.”That’s horrible!
Yeah.But what’s the deal with Delaware?
Delaware is so fucking weird, but so great. It’s hard to describe, because it’s nestled in the middle of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, and it’s kind of New England-y, but also kinda feels Southern.Right.
But it’s also a beachside state, so it has beaches. It’s two hours from New York City. So it’s got everything.Did you like growing up there?
I actually did, because there weren’t that many things to do, so you had to be creative, which I think helped me a lot, you know? Me and my friends would go driving around in the woods and, you know, go on adventures. There wasn’t a lot of clubbing and drinking, so I think it was good for me.In high school were you, like, the leader of the pack–type ‘funny girl’? The girl no one fucked with?
Yeah! No one fucked with me! No, people fucked with me all the time.Really?
All the time. But I was funny, yeah, and I was popular, but not in the traditional sense. I wasn’t, like, the popular, hot cheerleader girl, but I was kinda popular because I didn’t care what anyone thought of me, and I would do crazy things in public. I think a lot of people my age were horrified because…Wait, what did you do that was crazy?
So many things.Like what?
Just stupid stuff. Like, my friend Neil and I would wear a chicken and a duck costume to the movie theatre on Friday nights.Jesus. You were definitely making your own fun, then.
You had to — it was Delaware.You have an Irish mother and Puerto Rican father. Is that right?
That’s right.And two little sisters.
Yeah.Are you, like, the cool older sister?
Oh my God, no! I’m such a dork to them.Really?
Yeah. My little sisters are so much cooler than me. They’re always making fun of me for being so lame.Impossible. You’re on a great TV show and you’re in movies and stuff. How can you not be the cool older sister?
Well, I think that’s cool, but I’m not cool — to them — in the normal way. I’m pretty dorky. I live in LA, and my sisters always get mad at me for not using my ‘star power’ to get into parties and meet people. They’re always like, “What are you doing on Friday night?” or, “What are you doing this weekend? Are you going to this or that premiere?” and I’m always like, “I think I’m just gonna play Boulder Dash with my friends and then watch Battlestar Galactica.” So, that’s what I do, and then they’re pissed at me for not going out with Miley Cyrus and making connections and stuff.How much fun is it making Parks and Recreation? My girlfriend and I are convinced you guys are having the time of your lives.
Yeah, it’s ridiculous! It’s so much fun. I just finished this movie that I had to do while doing this season of Parks, and I was going back and forth between the movie and the show…Yeah?
And it really helped me realise just how much fun it is to do the show! The movie was really good, but it was a lot of work. When I went to the show, though, I got paid to sit there and eat waffles with Amy [Poehler] and Chris [Pratt] for, like, an hour, and just mess around. And that’s my job. That’s awesome. And also my character, April, is so fun because it doesn’t matter if I’m hungover or in a bad mood — I just have to show up and hate everyone.Who cracks you up the most on set?
Oh, it’s so hard to say; everyone is so funny. I feel like…Is it Ron Swanson?
That’s what I was going to say: Nick Offerman [aka Ron Swanson]. He makes me crack up a lot. We’ll be doing a bunch of takes and he’ll do the same thing each time, but then, out of nowhere, he’ll say something really mean or he’ll yell for no reason, and that stuff kills me. He’s really fun.He looks like a cat. Have you ever noticed that?
Yeah! I think there’s a thing on the internet that compares his face to a cat.Really?
Yeah, it’s pretty creepy. Now I think you’re the one that created that.I’m way too busy to maintain a ‘Nick Offerman looks like a Cat’ website.
Sure.What did you do for a job before you became a successful actress?
I had a lot of shitty jobs. I was a waitress at a bowling alley…In New York?
In New York, yeah.Was it Bowlmor Lanes?
Yes!You were a waitress at Bowlmor?
Yeah!Oh my God! I didn’t know you could get food there.
You can get a lot more than that.Do you miss it?
No. I miss the uniform, though. I used to wear that slutty bowling-alley uniform. I don’t know if you remember…I sort of remember it. It’s like a one-piece short/skirt thing, right?
Right; good memory. And fishnets and heels. I made my mother proud.Did you ever spit in anyone’s food?
Did I spit in anyone’s food? Nooo, but here’s the thing about my waiting days: I don’t remember much because I was drinking a lot at work, so I don’t know exactly what I did. I do know that I gave out a lot of free drinks.How did you get through those days?
I had a philosophy. I worked in a bunch of different restaurants, and kind of made a pact with myself — a ‘no loyalty’ pact — where I decided that I would have no loyalty to any restaurant I worked at. I’ll do whatever I want when I get there, try to make as much money as possible, and the minute they tell me I can’t go to an audition or whatever, I quit. The minute they try to interfere with my life, I quit.So, you probably got fired a lot, too.
Oh yeah. One time I was paid to leave.Shut up. How much?
I forget — like, two or three hundred dollars. This one restaurant made me work on New Year’s Eve, and I didn’t want to, so I started getting really drunk. I was like, “Fuck it! It’s New Years Eve! I’ll just keep drinking!” and then I accidently pushed one of the busboys down some stairs…Whoa!
It was an accident, but they felt like I was a liability at that point, and they said, “You should go.” I was like, “I’m not gonna go! You wanted me here, so I’m here! I’m workin’ all night, baby!” So they paid me to leave.OK, last question: when are you going to have your own show?
I don’t know — that’d be cool! I hope Parks goes on for a long time, but if it ever ends… maybe. I never planned on being on TV; that wasn’t something I thought I’d be doing, but I really like it! I’d love to have my own show some day, but you know — who knows?It could be an offshoot of Parks, called April.
I don’t know about that — well, maybe. Maybe April could be all grown up and she works for the IRS. I don’t know…Sounds like you’ve thought about it.
Oh yeah, I’ve written the show; it’s ready. No, I’m kidding. I don’t know what the fuck is gonna happen.
erika
November 01, 2011
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New Aubrey interview
If there are two things I find refreshing, they are milk with ice in it, and Aubrey Plaza. One of these items is especially refreshing because she brings us, on Parks and Recreation, April Ludgate, a good, dry, eye-rolling girl character the likes of which TV hasn’t seen in too long a time.
Also refreshing is the way she began her comedy career: by making web videos with a couple of friends out of suburban boredom.
This refreshing being then put up with older comedians grumbling about her success after Judd Apatow started getting her standup shows, and I think it’s refreshing that she just focused on how awesome she is and left other people to deal with it instead of apologizing.
When we started talking I was nervous in telling her I’d forgotten my questions and couldn’t improvise many good ones. But her inherent coolness refreshed my black heart, and by the end of our conversation, the inside of my chest cavity felt like a photograph on a water bottle label of flowers made out of Winterfresh gum blooming in May against the springs of Iceland.
Basically, she’s refreshing because she does a lot of cool stuff because she wants to, and we less interesting people get to benefit by having our culture livened up a bit, despite her deadpan delivery.
And now I bring you: my interview with a glass of milk.
Just kidding. It’s Aubrey Plaza.
Tavi: I wrote questions for you in my chemistry class but now I can only find my chemistry homework.
Aubrey: What chemistry class are you in?
The … bad one? I don’t know.
Wait, how old are you?
15.
My sister turns 15 today. She’s in the car with me.
Hi and happy birthday, sister!
Tavi says hi. Renee says hi.
Hello, Renee. It’s been a long day and my brain is farting so I might just have to ask you about lab safety instead of thinking of real questions.
That’s really weird, because I was a safety lab officer in chemistry class. I was really bad at science, and I just tried to talk my way through all those classes, so I asked my chem teacher if I could do extra credit because I was failing my tests and stuff, and she told me if I was safety lab officer I would get extra credit. I made T-shirts with my friend that said “Safety Lab Officer” on them, and then we would walk around and, like, tell other people how to handle their beakers. And somehow I passed that class.
That’s a very hefty responsibility.
I kept the T-shirt, too. I have it somewhere in a drawer. I sleep in that T-shirt whenever I’m sad.
If you could go back in time and be in any teen movie or TV show, which would it be?
I would be Janeane Garofalo in Reality Bites. Because she’s amazing, she was my hero, she’s so funny. She’s so funny in that movie. Or I would have to be Winona Ryder. I love Winona Ryder too. I would be either one of them. I would also totally be … oh, what’s her name? In Roseanne?
Darlene?
Darlene! I would totally be Darlene. She was awesome and I love that show so much.
All good roles. Have you ever gotten to meet Janeane Garofalo?
I did actually get to meet her. I did a standup show with her two years ago and it totally blew my mind, because she was actually the first person I ever saw do standup. In high school I drove up to Allentown, Pennsylvania, and saw her standup and I was so psyched about it and then I got to do a show with her and it was awesome. She was really cool.
That’s one of those weird moments where the universe is all together in one place for a moment.
It was really magical. I don’t really get star-struck that often, but she was someone who I was really nervous to be around.
What other comedians did you look up to?
Well, Adam Sandler was a big one for me, too. When I was growing up I watched Billy Madison like once a day, probably. And I loved him and then I got to meet him and that was pretty crazy.
Meet him? Weren’t you guys in a movie [Funny People, 2009] together?!
Yes! [Laughs]
When someone really cool guest-stars on Parks and Rec, is it easier to be relaxed about it at this point? Because I think I would forever have a continuous anxiety attack.
It’s weird, I don’t have the anxiety attack when I meet people in the makeup trailer, but then when I go and do a scene with them … like Parker Posey was on our show last season and I totally loved her growing up, too. I was obsessed with her. And when I met her in person I didn’t really freak out, but then when we were shooting the scene and she was in it and the cameras were rolling and we had lines with each other, I couldn’t even believe it. I was just like, I can’t believe I’m in a scene with her.
That seems pretty surreal. Are you guys done shooting the fourth season now?
No, we’re just in the beginning. I think next week we’re on episode five, so we’ve only done four.
And it’s going well?
Yeah, it’s going really well. We’ve already had some guest stars that have been really fun, like Patricia Clarkson was on two weeks ago. And we made out. Which was weird.
That is very weird and will be awesome.
[Laughs] Yeah, and Chris Pratt, who plays Andy, April’s husband, on the show—the two of us got to take a trip. I can’t tell you where because I was sworn to secrecy, but in one episode, Andy has a bucket list that April and Andy decided to complete, and there’s a crazy destination on this bucket list that we end up taking a road trip to. It was the first time that I ever got to travel to shoot the show, and it was so much fun.
That is fun. Wait, isn’t Patricia Clarkson going to play Tammy 1 or 2 or whichever one it is? [The Tammys are Ron’s ex-wives.]
Tammy 3. No—Tammy 2. No! Tammy 1! What am I talking about. Sorry … wait …
Now everyone will be mad at you.
I know! Shit. OK, so Tammy 1 is Patricia Clarkson, Tammy 2 is Megan Mullally, and then Tammy 0 is on the show, too—Ron’s mom.
Oh! That exists?!
That exists. And that’s something that no one knows. And they will be shocked to find out that there’s a Tammy 0, and Tammy 0 is [played by] Paula Pell, who is an actress-slash-writer on SNL and 30 Rock and she is amazing. She’s so funny.
Now someone has to start a band called the Tammys.
Fine, I’ll do it.
Good. What’ll you play?
I’ll play piano and you can play the drums. Or we can have an a cappella group called the Tammys.
Not to brag or anything but I’m, you know, in a very serious and popular a cappella group at school, so that should be, like, no problem.
Seriously? I always wanted to do that, but we didn’t have one.
I think in high school there are some nerdy things that you love but are a little ashamed of, and I’m glad I did this one.
I support you. That was my whole high school experience, doing nerdy things that I loved.
Like lab safety officer.
Exactly.
Were there any others?
Oh, so many things. We didn’t have a mascot, so I created a mascot for the school and made my own costume and I kept it in the trunk of my car, and I would drive around to all the games and show up as this character I created called the Phantom Raider, and I had, like, this mask on and a cape and stuff, and I would run around and get everyone pumped up and then I would get back in my car and drive away. And everyone knew it was me but I pretended I was this mystery.
Exactly like Hannah Montana.
That’s right. Me and Miley Cyrus have so much in common. It’s crazy.
Was this agreed on with the school? Now I’m so curious about it.
No, it wasn’t. I actually got in trouble. I climbed up the scaffolding in the gymnasium and I pretended like I was gonna fly off of it, and the nuns yelled at me. But then when I graduated, the school recognized the mascot. They’ve made it something now called the Spirit Officer, or something? And they pass the costume down to whoever is elected for that position. So now it’s like a legitimate tradition, and my sister was that person.
That’s a nice legacy. Did you say a nun yelled at you?
Yeah, we had nuns. I went to a really strict all-girls private Catholic school.
That’s so intense!
I know.
I’d want to do that for the aesthetic pleasure and then I would leave.
I feel the same way about public school. I’m still so jealous of people who went to the all-American high school. I was in an all-girls school my whole life up until college.
That’s why you have to play Darlene.
I know! I wish I could play Darlene.
Do you think that you would ever play a bubbly character?
Yeah. Actually, I just shot a movie called The Hand Job, where I play a character like I’ve never played before. She is not sarcastic or depressed or ironic in any way. She’s the valedictorian of her class and she’s really focused and determined and Type-A, like a cheerleader almost. It’s really different from anything I’ve done, and it was really, really fun for me to kind of get out of the April zone.
Do you ever go home after work and really feel like you hate everything? Like you’re so into the psychology of April?
No, I pick up the April suitcase when I go to work in the morning and I leave it at work when I come home. That was a bad analogy.
That makes sense. That’s good vibes I think.
Yeah. And also, April’s kind of evolved, you know? She doesn’t really hate everyone, she just has kind of an attitude problem—but secretly she really loves everyone.
That’s why the wedding episode is so heartwarming, and all of the subtly paternal Ron stuff … ah! OK, anyway. What is The Hand Job about?
The Hand Job is about a recent high school graduate who has spent all her time achieving academic awards and focusing on her homework, and she graduates and kind of realizes that she hasn’t really had any fun, and she hasn’t really done anything with guys. She’s warned by her older, kind of slutty sister, who’s played by Rachel Bilson, that she must learn how to do stuff with guys before college or she’ll be the laughingstock of Georgetown. So she takes this very seriously and decides to treat sex as like a homework assignment, like a summer work assignment. She basically makes a list of all these things that she wants to figure out how to do with guys, and then she takes it so seriously that she kind of becomes promiscuous without even realizing it, and it causes some tension with her friends. And it’s set in 1993, so it’s like a period piece, and there’s some really amazing awful skorts and clothes happening. It’s kind of like a female Superbad. Bill Hader’s in it, Andy Samberg’s in it. There’s a lot of really awesome people in it. Alia Shawkat is playing my best friend.
She’s awesome. She wrote some advice for getting through high school for us.
She’s one of my really good friends. It was fun to shoot a movie with her, because we got to just play.
Nineteen-ninety-three and graduation and promiscuity. It sounds kind of like you are playing Janeane Garofalo in Reality Bites.
Yeah, definitely. Kind of.
I can’t believe there’s a movie that takes place “in the past” but it’s 1993. I like it.
I know, that’s what everyone keeps saying, ’cause I keep calling it a period piece, which sounds funny, but it really is. I mean, there’s some pretty amazing art direction in the movie.
There’s this more recent Janeane Garofalo bit about how on Ghost Hunters and stuff, the ghosts are never from, like, the ’90s or the ’80s. But … yeah. I don’t really know where I was going with that. Except the other night, my friend and I did the Ouija board in my room and we actually got a ghost from the ’80s.
A guy or a girl?
A girl.
Really? Like someone that you knew?
No, sadly not.
I just did a Funny or Die video with my friend Allan [McLeod] called “Ghost Walkers.” It’s a parody of a ghost-hunting show and I play this weird witch girl and it’s really witchy and ghosty. You’d probably like it.
I probably would.
And Allan’s really funny. He’s really subtle but he’s really funny. I wanna know what you think about it.
I will watch that. And now the people who are reading this are on the Internet, because they’re reading this, so they’ll open up a new tab and watch it.
Oh, good. Click on that. Click on … this.
This word, right here. Is there anything else you’d like people reading this to look up right now? Just something you wish more people knew about?
I just saw something yesterday that was really funny. It’s this guy who works in one of those stock-photo companies and he pulled a prank on his co-worker where he Photoshopped Justin Bieber’s face into all of the stock photos. And you think it’s gonna be just, like, covering other faces, but he does it in a really weird way where if it’s a stock photo of a can of beans, Bieber’s face is one of the little beans. It’s really creepy, but it’s one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while, so you should link to it.
I’ll use my Internet skills and find it. [I found it. It’s here.]
Rashida Jones just gave me Justin Bieber’s … perfume, or whatever. The bottle kind of looks like a vagina. I think it’s supposed to be like a flower, like a rose. The petals are, like, rubber petals. It’s really weird and vaginal.
Does it smell all right?
It smells awful. Sorry, Bieber—I love you, but it smells really bad. ♦
erika
September 22, 2011
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Aubrey on David Letterman
Aubrey was recently on David Letterman, here’s a youtube video of her appearance!
erika
September 02, 2011
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Talk Show Tuesday: Jimmy Kimmel Live! – July 31, 2009
Continuing with older updates, here is (what I believe is) Aubrey’s first talk show appearance: Jimmy Kimmel Live! on July 31, 2009.
Janie
May 10, 2011
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The Tonight Show: Backstage Interview – May 6, 2011
Here’s a backstage interview from Aubrey’s recent Tonight Show visit. She jokes abouts the flirtatious atmosphere between herself and Steven Tyler as well as who else she’s eying.
Janie
May 09, 2011
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Totally Laime Podcast
Aubrey was recently a guest on Elizabeth Laime’s “Totally Laime podcast.” On the show, she discusses her childhood pets, getting an astrological chart reading, the scariest moment of her life, what it was like attending an all-girls catholic high school, her love of Oprah, and the dangers of Mountain Dew. Continue…
Janie
May 09, 2011
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‘The Daily Habit’ Video Clip
I was able to grab a few small clips of Aubrey’s segment of ‘The Daily Habit’ from yesterday’s weekend wrap-up of the show. View them below along with screencaptures from the video.
Janie
April 09, 2011
Interviews, Photos, Videos
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The Daily Habit on Fuel TV
Aubrey appeared on The Daily Habit this past Monday. We were unable to find video, but an image from the show has been added to the gallery.
Janie
April 08, 2011
Interviews, Photos, TV Alerts
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Aubrey on ‘The Back Room’
Aubrey Plaza joined Dr. Aggro Cocky, Cuddlebear, Tomato Girl and the rest of the gang live in The Back Room last Wednesday. If you missed it, you can watch it at Yowie.com
Janie
April 06, 2011
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Entertainment Weekly – February 18th Issue
The cast of Parks and Recreation was featured on the cover of the February 18th addition of Entertainment Weekly. We now have scans from the issue in our gallery.
