Aubrey Christina Plaza ^[1] (born June 26, 1984)^[2] is an American actress, comedian and producer. She began her career performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She received further recognition for her starring role as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015). From 2017 to 2019, Plaza starred as Lenny Busker in the FX drama series Legion

After several supporting roles in various films, Plaza had her first leading role as Darius Britt in the comedy Safety Not Guaranteed (2012). She also starred in the films Mystery Team (2008), Funny People (2009), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Monsters University (2013), Life After Beth (2014), Dirty Grandpa (2016), Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), The Little Hours (2017), Ingrid Goes West (2017), An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (2018) and Child's Play

Plaza was born in Wilmington, Delaware, to Bernadette, an attorney, and David Plaza, a financial advisor.^[3] She has two younger sisters, Renee and Natalie.^[4]

Plaza was named after the song "Aubrey" by Bread.^[4] Her father is Puerto Rican and her mother is of Irish–English descent.^[6] Plaza has stated: "I was like the only diverse kid in my high school, and I'm half-Puerto Rican. But yeah, I have a huge family and tons of cousins in Puerto Rico."^[7]

Plaza graduated from Ursuline Academy, an all-girls Catholic school, in 2002. In high school she was student council president and participated in productions with the Wilmington Drama League.^[4][8] She studied film at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, graduating in 2006.^[4]

Plaza suffered a stroke when she was 20 years old that caused temporary paralysis and expressive aphasia. Some years later, she had a smaller stroke called a transient ischemic attack while on the set of Parks and Recreation. She has now fully recovered.^[4][9][10]

Plaza has had many internships, and worked as an NBC page.^[11] Plaza has performed improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater since 2004. She also performed stand-up and has appeared at the Laugh Factory and The Improv.

Plaza starred in the online series The Jeannie Tate Show, and starred as Robin Gibney in ESPN's Mayne Street. She appeared in the first episode of "Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz" on Funny or Die.^[12]

She played Seth Rogen's love interest, Daisy, in 2009's Funny People directed by Judd Apatow. She appeared in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Derrick Comedy's Mystery Team, which debuted at 2009 Sundance. She appeared in a CollegeHumor short alongside Jason Bateman and Will Arnett.

She played April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation from 2009 to 2015. For her performance as the deadpan employee, she received universal praise throughout the entire show, being referred to as one of the show's breakout characters.

On March 12, 2010, Plaza performed at "A Night of 140 Tweets: A Celebrity Tweetathon for Haiti", produced by Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Ben Stiller, and Mike Rosenstein, at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles.

In 2011 she appeared on Portlandia. Plaza appeared as a guest judge during a roast segment on The Next Food Network Star in 2011. She appeared in Episode 199 of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast. She also had a recurring role as "the Princess" in the comedic sci-fi web series Troopers on CollegeHumor.^[13]

In 2012, she was featured in Father John Misty's music video for the song "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" from the album Fear Fun and in 2014 she was in Cassorla's "Bona Fide" video where she also made her saxophone-playing debut.^[14]

In 2012 Plaza earned her first starring role in a major film, alongside Mark Duplass, in the comedy, Safety Not Guaranteed. Plaza played Darius, a jaded intern who answers a curious want ad "seeking a companion for a time traveling adventure". Her performance in the film was critically acclaimed, and Gary Thompson of The Philadelphia Inquirer questioned whether this role was out of her usual "pretty slacker" range but found her performance "compelling".^[15]

In 2013, she had the leading female role as Sacagawea in Drunk History episode Nashville in the segment on Lewis and Clark Expedition.^[16]

At the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in January 2014, Plaza's film, Life After Beth, which was written and directed by her boyfriend Jeff Baena, premiered.^[17] Plaza also voiced Grumpy Cat in the Lifetime Network's original movie Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever (2014).^[18]

She starred in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates alongside Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick and Adam DeVine. The film was released on July 8, 2016. Her role as the rebellious Tatiana earned her critical praise.

In 2016, she was a guest star on HarmonQuest, as a gnome named "Hawaiian Coffee" and portrayed Aaron Burr in the "Hamilton" episode of Drunk History.^[19]

She also had the only speaking line in a commercial for the Apple iPhone 6s, demonstrating "I'm peeking my flight. I'm not peeking my flight. I'm peeking my... wait, I missed my flight."^[20]

She first played the role of Cat Adams in Season 11 of the CBS television show Criminal Minds

In 2017, Plaza both starred in and produced two films, The Little Hours and Ingrid Goes West. It was announced that she would star in indie comedy An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn in 2018.^[21]

Plaza has been starring as Lenny Busker in the FX series Legion since February 2017.^[22] On February 23, 2019, Plaza hosted the 34th Independent Spirit Awards.^[23]

In 2019, she starred in Child's Play, a reboot of the 1988 film, as the mother who brings home a killer doll, Chucky.^[24]

Plaza dated actor John Gallagher Jr. when they were both 15 years old.^[25] She was in a relationship with actor Michael Cera. The two met on the set of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and dated for a year and a half. Plaza has been in a long-term relationship with writer and director Jeff Baena since 2011. They live together in Los Angeles, California, and work together often.^[26][27] She is bisexual.^[28]