Aubrey Plaza is speaking candidly about her pain. It comes after her husband, Jeff Baena, died earlier this year. The 41-year-old actress recently joined her longtime friend Amy Poehler on Poehler’s podcast, "Good Hang." The episode aired on Tuesday, August 19th.
Poehler, 53, started the conversation by noting Plaza brought her dog, Frankie, to the recording. She called Frankie a "therapy dog" for Plaza. This was especially true considering the past year’s events.
"To get it out of the way, people want to see you and know how you are," Poehler said. She was talking about Baena’s suicide on January 3rd. "They love you, and they want to see you. You’ve had a terrible, terrible, tragic year. You lost your husband. You’ve been dealing with that and you’ve been looking for different ways to feel and find support."
Poehler then asked Plaza directly, "On behalf of all the people who feel like they know you, and the people who do know you, how are you feeling today?"
The Agatha All Along star shared that, "at this precise, precise moment," she felt "happy" to be with her friend. However, she described the waves of grief she has felt since January.
"Overall, I’m here and I’m functioning," Plaza explained. "I feel grateful that I can keep moving through the world. I think, like, I’m okay, but it’s an obvious daily struggle."
Plaza then offered a unique comparison for her grief. She likened it to the recent action-horror film The Gorge. Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy star in the movie.
"It’s kind of a silly analogy, and at one point it was a joke," she said. "But I truly mean it. Did you see that movie, The Gorge? It’s like an alien movie or something with Miles Teller. In the movie, there’s a cliff on one side, another cliff on the other, and in between, there’s a gorge full of monsters trying to get them."
Plaza continued, "I swear when I watched it, I thought: that looks like what my grief is like. It’s like, at all times, there’s like a giant ocean of horrible things right there. I can see it, and sometimes I just want to dive in and be in it. And sometimes I just look at it, and sometimes I just try to move away."
She added, "But it’s always there, and the monsters are trying to get me, just like Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy."
Baena, a film director, died by suicide at his Los Angeles home in early January. Records from the coroner’s office, which were seen by a well-known publication, confirmed this. He was 47 years old.
Plaza first spoke out on January 6th. Her representative shared a statement at the time. "This is an unimaginable tragedy," the actress’s spokesperson declared. "We are deeply grateful for all the people who have offered support. Please respect our privacy at this time."
Plaza and Baena started dating in 2011. They married in 2020.
If you or someone you know is going through a difficult time or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.