According to Aubrey Plaza, living in a five-star hotel in Sicily is not the paradise we think it is. The vibe can shift from Eloise to Jack Torrance pretty quickly. For her, it took only a month.

Last February, Plaza, along with the rest of the cast and crew of the HBO series The White Lotus, holed up at the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace for five months to film the show’s second season. The hotel, a centuries-old convent in the seaside town of Taormina, was shuttered to actual tourists so that the actors could play fictional ones. “A Charlie Kaufman experiment,” as Plaza puts it, with no retreat from work. Every time she stuck her head into the hallway, she heard “motore, motore, motore!” (“rolling” in Italian) echoing from some marbled corner of the property. Every time she returned to her room, a staffer was inside performing an unsolicited task. Eventually, she hung a do not disturb sign on the door and began blasting R.E.M. She ignored pleas from housekeeping. “I was a suspicious character for these Italians,” she says. “They thought I was sketchy. Which I am.”

Then, in March, things got weird. One of Plaza’s costars, Adam DiMarco, discovered the reed diffusers that normally scent the hotel’s nooks and terraces had been arranged in a large Blair Witch–style symbol on the floor of his dressing room. A few days later, Plaza’s dressing room was similarly defiled. Furious, she started freaking out to fellow cast members Haley Lu Richardson and Meghann Fahy. “Who did this?” she demanded. Was it a prank? A poltergeist? The ghost of a nun who, centuries later, still can’t be a priest? No one knew.

Well, the hotel staff knew. “It’s Ms. Plaza,” they agreed. They proffered security footage. Plaza swore it wasn’t her. She threw suspicion on her similarly dark-haired Italian costars. “It was Beatrice! It was Simona!” Papers with ominous messages that read here lies… were being slipped under people’s doors. “I was definitely questioning my reality for a while there,” says DiMarco. Over bottles of red wine, Plaza assured him she wasn’t to blame until eventually he recruited a mole of his own: “I didn’t know who to trust. It was like Murder on the Orient Express. Everyone was the murderer.”

But it was Ms. Plaza. Of course, it was Ms. Plaza. “She’s a disruptor by nature,” says her close friend Mike White, creator of The White Lotus. For the sake of work and self-preservation, White avoided the chaos. “Aubrey’s the most fun. I said to her face, if I’m on a cross-country trip, I want nothing more than for you to be on that bus with me. But if I’m driving the bus, and you are on it, I want you off the bus.”

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Why, yes — Aubrey Plaza is showing up in just about everything these days. After getting rave reviews for her Sundance thriller Emily the Criminal this year, Plaza voiced the mother of Satan’s daughter in FX’s Little Demon before hopping a plane to Italy to join the second iteration of HBO’s The White Lotus. Now filming Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis before turning her attention to Marvel’s Agatha: Coven of Chaos for Disney+, Plaza looks back on playing a criminal for the big screen and a possible murderess on the HBO anthology.

DEADLINE: You’ve got a lot going on. Are you busier than ever, or is this just another month in the life of Aubrey Plaza?

AUBREY PLAZA: This is just another month in the life of Aubrey Plaza. I’ve been busy for 10 years. A lot of things that I’ve done are all coming out at the same time. I can’t control that part of it, but I’ve been busy from the minute I moved to Los Angeles. I haven’t stopped.

DEADLINE: It’s hard to launch a little indie like Emily the Criminal. Were you fearful you wouldn’t get the eyeballs?

PLAZA: I’m one of the last people that’s kind of waving that theatrical flag. Me, Martin Scorsese and Spielberg, just the three of us. I’m romantic about it. I just believe with all my heart that if you make a movie that’s undeniably great, people will hear about it and want to see it.

DEADLINE: Desperation makes Emily fearless, right?

PLAZA: Oh yeah. I mean, what I love about the movie is that it starts and she’s already had enough. She’s already had it up to here. Most times movies start at the bottom and you see the character slowly get to that place. But she’s already at that place once we start. So this sh*t’s gonna go down.

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In the second season of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” Aubrey Plaza plays Harper Spiller, a lawyer with a penchant for sarcasm who is vacationing in Italy with her husband and his friends. She’d rather read Valeria Luiselli’s “Lost Children Archive” than talk about “Ted Lasso.” And she’d rather not associate with people who don’t follow the news.

Plaza is paired with Will Sharpe, who plays her husband, Ethan — newly wealthy after selling his tech company — as well as Theo James, as Ethan’s old college friend Cameron, and Meghann Fahy as his cheerful wife Daphne, who kicks off the season’s mystery when she discovers a limp body floating at sea.

Plaza brings an all-too-relatable cynicism to the judgmental, pragmatic Harper, which will come as no surprise to those familiar with the cutting deadpan that defined Plaza’s breakout role as intern-turned-assistant April Ludgate in “Parks and Recreation.”

It was recently announced that Plaza would join the cast of “Agatha: Coven of Chaos,” Marvel’s upcoming “WandaVision” spinoff series featuring Kathryn Hahn as the titular witch.

Fresh from a day of shooting the new Francis Ford Coppola film “Megalopolis” in Atlanta, the 38-year-old actress discussed the thrilling discomfort in Mike White’s writing, expertly playing a Debbie Downer and gearing up for the Marvel universe.

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From creator/writer/director Mike White, the second installment of the HBO series The White Lotus is set at a beautiful resort in Sicily, Italy, where hotel manager Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) is ready to assist various guests in achieving everything they want out of their trip, whether that’s with family, for business reasons, or of a more romantic nature. After becoming newly wealthy, as a result of a recent professional success, Ethan Spiller (Will Sharpe) and his wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza) accompany his old college roommate Cameron (Theo James) and his wife Daphne (Meghann Fahy) on a lavish vacation that might ultimately have a hidden purpose.

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Plaza and Sharpe talked about who Ethan and Harper were before taking this trip, finding themselves in a relationship rut, Ethan’s distrust of Cameron, that uncomfortable moment between Harper and Cameron, and the experience of shooting at that incredible palazzo.

Collider: I could have watched a separate show just of your characters because I found their dynamics so fascinating to watch. When we meet this couple, they seem to be at a very interesting place in their relationship. They’re sort of resigned to certain things, and they aren’t really looking to change things too much. Who do you think they were prior to this trip, or even prior to everything that Ethan has gone through?

WILL SHARPE: That’s a good question. I guess they’re trying to work that out. Between us and Mike [White], we decided it was probably seven years down the line, and they’ve very much found their comfort zone, but that comfort zone is starting to feel uncomfortable and they’re in a bit of a rut. They tell themselves they’re very honest with each other and that they have a good relationship, but maybe they’re not honest with each other about the most complex, difficult things. What were they like? I definitely don’t think Ethan was ever a massive party animal or anything, but was Harper?

AUBREY PLAZA: It’s funny, we talked about this because I kept being like, “Harper has a wild side, we just haven’t seen it in a while.” We talked about that. I feel like they’re one of those couples that met in their twenties. They met young. They were friends. They’re soulmates. They’re best friends that fell in love and got married, and they’ve been together for a long time. There is an innocence there almost, even though they’ve been together for a long time. It feels like they’re those people. They’re smart and intelligent. They have good schooling. They do everything right. They’re right, but are they right?

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After taking over The White Lotus Sicily, Aubrey Plaza is coming for Jimmy Kimmel’s job next.

The actress, who stars in season two of HBO’s fan favorite anthology series The White Lotus, is sharing what she’d like to do after the season’s over—and it involves a major career pivot.

“I’m really good at hosting,” she exclusively told E! News at the 13th Annual Governors Awards Nov. 19. “In fact, I pitched myself for the Academy Awards, but they didn’t go for it. They already got what’s his name, Jimmy Kimmel? Maybe for next year.”

Though Plaza is famously known for her practical jokes, this one could be real: When asked if she was serious about the gig, the actress responded, “Of course.”

So, if the Academy were to take Plaza up on her offer, what could audiences look forward to?

“No political bulls–t,” she quipped. “Just good old-fashioned honoring films and the magic of movies. You know, I’m the Billy Crystal of this generation, and everybody tells me that.”

In the meantime, Plaza is focusing on her other projects: Currently, she’s filming Francis Ford Coppola’s newest epic Megalopolis alongside Adam Driver, Shia LaBeouf and Dustin Hoffman, and watching the rest of The White Lotus season two air, which she says has a much larger audience than her typical roles.

“It’s fun,” the 38-year-old noted. “I mean, I’m excited when anyone sees my work because I do a lot of small movies like Emily the Criminal, which is why I’m here tonight, and a lot of people don’t get to see that. So it’s pretty wild to be on a show that has like such high ratings.”

The White Lotus season two airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

Source: E! Online

Aubrey Plaza is understandably excited about working with The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola. In August, it was announced that Plaza was joining the cast of Megalopolis, the director’s passion project. Plaza joined a star-studded ensemble cast that included Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, and Laurence Fishburne. Since news of Plaza’s involvement, Dustin Hoffman, Shia LaBeouf, and Jason Schwartzman, among others, have also signed on for the anticipated film.

While appearing on In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast, Plaza praised the respected director, saying:

“For a really long time, I’ve been manifesting [the idea that I want] to work with a brilliant director. Who [could] be more brilliant than Francis Ford Coppola, one of the greatest living directors? It’s really hard to get parts in movies where you’re working with directors that have made a lot of films. I don’t regret anything I’ve done. I love working with first-time directors; I’ll never stop doing that, because I love it so much. But there’s been a part of me for a while that’s like, I really want to work with a really seasoned director. I would say Francis Ford Coppola—that guy is seasoned.”

The award-winning director rose to stardom after the release of The Godfather in 1972. His work on the film and its sequel earned him numerous accolades, as did his work on Patton, Apocalypse Now and American Graffiti. Megalopolis is being financed by Coppola, who sold a piece of his eponymous winery to fund the project. As well as directing, Coppola penned the script for the film. The director previously described Megalopolis as a love story about a woman who is “divided between loyalties to two men.”

Source: Movie Web

Aubrey Plaza is having a moment. The 38-year-old actress is earning rave reviews for her roles in Emily the Criminal and Season 2 of the Emmy award-winning series, The White Lotus. Here, she chats to WHO about her own ‘criminal’ activity and her life-changing moment with a late actor.

Tell us about your character, Emily.
Yes! Emily is from New Jersey and finds herself in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, she has a criminal record and a past she can’t shake while trying to get a job. She’s having a hard time. So, she decides to do the small crime of credit card fraud. She finds out she’s good at it and she gets in way over her head.

Do you share any similarities with Emily?
I had a tough period of time after school, before I got my big break. I grinded it out in New York with different jobs in hospitality and at a temp agency. I did odd jobs and I used that time as an inspiration. I’m lucky I got to start acting pretty soon after that, but I remember that feeling.

Watching the film, I questioned whether I would engage in illegal activity if I was really down on my luck like Emily, and I’d have to say I would!
(Laughs) I think that’s what’s fun about the movie. At first, it’s like she’s doing it for money, but then I think she does it because she likes it. There’s an adrenalin rush to it.

Now tell us, have you ever done anything blatantly illegal?
No! (Laughs) I mean, when I was a kid or when I was a teenager, I did teenage stupid stuff like broke into the park after midnight and vandalised. Stuff like that. Just dumb stuff. There was a lot of construction where I grew up, and I used to break into the construction houses and write things with nails. I’d get a pile of nails and write messages to the construction workers like, “Beware, there’s a ghost here.” Just stupid stuff. I don’t know if that’s even illegal. I’m a good catholic girl.

What’s the naughtiest thing you’ve ever done?
(Laughs) Like I would ever tell you the naughtiest thing I’ve ever done!

Can you name three actors you’d like to work with, dead or alive?
Tilda Swinton, Nicolas Cage. I’m already seeing the movie now – me, Tilda and Nicolas. Oh, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I met him once and I’ll never forget it.

Tell us about that.
I auditioned for him. He was going to direct a play. He gave me the most incredible advice, I’ll never forget it. He changed my brain when it came to acting. He kind of screamed at me in a passionate way – I loved it. I was delivering this dramatic monologue, but I was kind of looking down, feeling sorry for myself. He got up and screamed, “No-one’s interested in looking at you looking down. When you’re in a scene with someone it’s about the other person even if you’re talking about yourself.” A light bulb went off in my head. I learnt so much in five seconds talking to him. So, I did it again and I got the part.

Have you ever been starstruck?
Absolutely. I was starstruck when I saw Elaine May in a play, and then we brushed shoulders backstage when she walked by me. I was starstruck by Diane Keaton at a hotel in Rome. I was too shy to say anything to her, but she was standing in a little courtyard and she was so cool. I was too shy, and my friend was like, “Go up and say something, you probably have mutual friends.” Which we do. But I was too shy. And I was starstruck when I saw Patrick Wilson. I was so taken by this guy singing and dancing. I met him backstage and I could barely speak.

Source: WHO

In the years since she wrapped up her time on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” Aubrey Plaza has played a social media–obsessed cyber stalker, a blasphemous 14th-century nun, an all-powerful mutant, and Aaron Burr. This year alone, she turned in a remarkable performance as a credit card scammer in John Patton Ford’s “Emily the Criminal” and lived in the lap of Italian luxury on Season 2 of HBO’s “The White Lotus.” And she’s a little tired, understandably, of viewers filing all these characters under the same “deadpan” description.

“Soon, I’m going to get into the world of prosthetics and start doing some Meryl Streep shit where I change my nose and my hair so people can just completely forget that it’s me,” Plaza says. “I’m always surprised that, when I do something new, there’s always that one person who says, ‘There she goes, doing the Aubrey Plaza thing again.’ I can’t change the sound of my voice. I only have my own instrument to work with. Anyway, I sound bitter, but I’m not. But I am always surprised that people use ‘deadpan’ to describe some things that I’ve done. It just feels a little reductive. But that’s my journey.”

On this episode of In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast, Plaza takes us through that journey, from her creative process for her roles in “Emily the Criminal” and on “The White Lotus” to her upcoming work in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” and on the MCU’s “Agatha: Coven of Chaos.”

As both producer and star of “Emily the Criminal,” Plaza embraced every part of the filmmaking process.
“Making movies is an almost spiritual process for me. I can only describe it like: The movie becomes its own living, breathing organism. You have to nurture it and feed it and raise it and get it to the finish line. Producing, for me—it’s all the practical, pragmatic stuff, but there’s a spiritual element to it that does connect to the acting process. It’s about bringing the right energy and the right people into the picture to raise this baby movie. Casting is so important. That, obviously, is really connected to the acting part of it. I want to work with really great people. I want to get people in there that are going to help me with my performance. I want it to feel real. On a deeper level, there’s an approach in my head about movies that feels like there’s a soul to the process. If you can remember that, and keep your eye on that with all the decisions you’re making, it helps the movie be better.”

Harper Spiller, her character on Mike White’s “The White Lotus,” is the most personal role of her career.
“Mike wrote that character for me, so there’s a lot of me in that part. It’s only been two episodes and everyone’s like, ‘This woman is kind of an uptight bitch.’ Which, maybe I am. But you’ll see, as the show goes on, the layers come off; the vulnerability starts to show. You realize there’s a reason why she’s like this. That part, maybe more than any other part I’ve played, is really personal to me. That’s Mike White. He’s a good friend of mine, and he really tapped into something unconsciously about me.

There’s a theme [in my career] of being misunderstood and playing characters that feel like the odd woman out. I’m drawn to those characters on a really basic level. I grew up in Delaware. I didn’t grow up in Hollywood. I didn’t have a direct line to the industry. I was like everybody else who grows up and watches movies and has dreams and fantasies about being an actor. I still can’t believe that I’m actually doing that.”

Getting cast in “Megalopolis” was a pivotal moment for Plaza.
“For a really long time, I’ve been manifesting [the idea that I want] to work with a brilliant director. Who [could] be more brilliant than Francis Ford Coppola, one of the greatest living directors? It’s really hard to get parts in movies where you’re working with directors that have made a lot of films. I don’t regret anything I’ve done. I love working with first-time directors; I’ll never stop doing that, because I love it so much. But there’s been a part of me for a while that’s like, I really want to work with a really seasoned director. I would say Francis Ford Coppola—that guy is seasoned.

I auditioned for him with no expectations to get the part. I was really just like, Man, I just want to meet the guy. Even if I have a five-minute Zoom, that would be enough for me. I love his passion. I feel lucky and completely humbled to be a part of ‘Megalopolis.’ We start shooting this week, so TBD what’s going to go down; but so far, the rehearsal process and the process I’ve been through is blowing my mind. It’s such a reminder that movies can be magical. This guy is really not operating in the Hollywood system at all, and he’s making a giant movie. It’s just so fucking amazing to be around someone that has a passion for movies like me and feels the same way—that the process of making the movie is just as important as the end result.”

She jumped at the chance to work with Kathryn Hahn again on “Agatha: Coven of Chaos.
“ ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’—I haven’t talked about it yet. It’s a fun character. I’ll just say, speaking of manifestations…it’s all coming together for me with this part. Kathryn Hahn, she’s a friend of mine; I’ve known her for years. We shared a couple moments onscreen in ‘Parks and Recreation’ 10 years ago, but I’ve never gotten to work with her, really. She’s one of the most incredible actresses that’s working today. She’s a friend of mine. She speaks my language. To be able to get onscreen with her and go toe-to-toe with her is what’s driving me. I think it’s cool that it’s Marvel and all that, but I’m really just interested to work with Kathryn Hahn.

Source: Backstage

There’s no such thing as five feet apart for Aubrey Plaza and Haley Lu Richardson.

In a recent conversation for Interview, Plaza humorously revealed that her White Lotus season 2 castmate “stalked me for years” before they ended up working together on the hit HBO series. In fact, after the two first met at the MTV Movie & TV Awards, Richardson decided to crash the premiere of Plaza’s 2019 film Child’s Play just to see her again.

“I showed up to the Chucky premiere uninvited,” Richardson recalled. “I made friends with all of Aubrey’s friends at the premiere so that I could get closer to her life.”

And in a turn of events that feels ripped straight out of Plaza’s 2017 film Ingrid Goes West, Richardson soon found herself infiltrating her future costar’s inner circle. “Then Aubrey’s friend invited me to Aubrey’s birthday without asking Aubrey,” she said. “So I showed up and I remember we locked eyes at the bar and you just went, ‘You.'”

Plaza felt the energy shift. “It didn’t matter how many mushrooms I had taken that night. I knew that my stalker had arrived,” she joked. “But there was something deep down inside all along that was like, ‘Even though she’s stalking me, and maybe eventually she’ll cut me up into a million pieces and eat me, I like her. In fact, I love her.'”

She continued, “And so when I heard that you were cast on The White Lotus, I was like, ‘This is some f—ing witchy karmic s—.'”

Richardson added that while it was “really f—ed up” that the two have “absolutely zero scenes together” on the show, they were at least able to hang out off screen.

“So sad,” Plaza agreed. “But actually I think we have things in store for us.”

Their friendship has continued over text as well. “I’m pretty sure the first thing you ever texted me was the bloody knife [emoji],” Richardson said. “You didn’t say your name, didn’t say who it was. That first message was very cryptic. But I immediately knew it was you.”

To which Plaza replied, “Oh yeah. That’s classic me.”

All in all, Richardson’s dedication paid off. “I think I’m the best stalker in the world,” she quipped. “I didn’t get arrested. You never had to get a restraining order. Somehow my stalking was so beautiful and subtle and well thought-out that I’m now your friend. And I’m very thankful for it because I obviously deeply admire you and think you’re cool and very strange. Also, I will always be there for you.”

“Yeah, lurking in the shadows,” Plaza joked.

“I will be,” Richardson responded, “whether you like it or not.”

Source: Entertainment Weekly

UPDATE: The casting news has been confirmed by Variety.

It was reported by The Illuminerdi that Aubrey Plaza will be joining the Disney+ series Agatha: Coven of Chaos.

Now we at The Illuminerdi can exclusively reveal that Aubrey Plaza is set to join the Disney+ series in an undisclosed role described as part of a group of supporting female characters.

Aubrey Plaza is best known for her role in the hit sitcom Parks and Recreation. Since then, she has starred in several comedies including Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates and Dirty Grandpa. Over the last few years, she has been delivering acclaimed performances in dramas like Black Bear and most recently Emily the Criminal. She can currently be seen in the second season of the Emmy-winning show The White Lotus, for which she already garnered Emmy buzz. Agatha: Coven of Chaos marks Aubrey Plaza’s second Marvel role as she already played Lenny Busker in Legion.

Our sources also revealed that the Disney+ series is looking to shoot briefly for a week or two next month, before production formally begins in January through the early summer of 2023 in Atlanta.

Agatha: Coven of Chaos will arrive on Disney+ in Winter 2023/Spring 2024.