Aubrey Plaza Is Not Brad Pitt

 he last time I interviewed Aubrey Plaza for Cosmo, the most stressful part of our day was deciding which slice of pie to order after lunch. (“Are boysenberries in season?” No. “So why do I keep hearing about them?” We got apple.) You don’t need me to tell you how much has changed since July 2019, how what “stressful” means is so dramatically different. But it’s a pleasure to report that Aubrey is still essentially, refreshingly the same: doggedly creative, perpetually risk-taking, ineffably cool—and, of course, weird in a way that reminds you, constantly, that there’s not a single thing in life that has to be boring or ordinary.

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It’s this talent she has for making even the mundane feel electric that’s made her, and her career, so fascinating to watch. We first saw it with her bone-dry portrayal of bored intern April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation, but she transforms the day-to-day every chance she gets, be it during a talk show appearance or while hosting an awards ceremony. Run-of-the-mill Hollywood stuff, somehow made thrilling.

Not that it’s all mundanity for Aubrey—in just the past three years, she’s directed for the first time (an episode of the experimental Showtime series Cinema Toast); married her longtime partner, director Jeff Baena; and shot a bunch of great films, including 2020’s Black Bear and student-debt thriller (yes, that’s a thing, as it kinda should be?)/Sundance favorite Emily the Criminal. She’s also casually starring opposite Jason Statham and Hugh Grant in the upcoming glitzy action movie Operation Fortune, and she’s written a truly delightful children’s book, The Legend of the Christmas Witch. Oh, yes, and she’s been cast in the second season of arguably the most talked-about show on television, The White Lotus.

And yet! She’s still hungry for the next thing that will lead her to some kind of creative transcendence. Like…theme parks? We’ll get there.

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It’s been a while since we last talked—have you changed in any ways that are less outwardly obvious than all the projects you’ve been up to?

I feel like I finally gave myself some space to breathe and focus on what I really wanted to do. I tend to work so much that sometimes I can get caught up in that cycle where I’m just going, going, going on other people’s things. I was able to start writing a little bit. Directing. The pandemic was an oddly productive time. 2020 got all weird, then, for me, 2021 started off with a bang and it just didn’t stop. I think because of being quarantined for so long, I was like, Fuck it. I’m going in.

On that note, you’re Zooming with me from Italy, right?

Yes, I’m in Sicily for White Lotus and I’m so excited. We literally started today. It’s pretty wild. We’ve taken over this entire hotel.1 There’s an energy, for sure.