Aubrey Plaza reflected on her life in the months since the loss of her husband, filmmaker Jeff Baena.
The actor appeared on the latest episode of “Good Hang,” a podcast hosted by her friend and former “Parks and Recreation” castmate Amy Poehler.
“On behalf of all the people who feel like they know you, and the people who do know you, how are you feeling today?” Poehler asked Plaza.
“In this very, very present moment, I feel happy to be with you,” Plaza responded.
“I’m here and I’m functioning,” she continued. “I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I’m OK, but it’s like a daily struggle, obviously.”
Baena, a filmmaker and screenwriter, died by suicide in January at 47. His Hollywood credits included co-writing the 2004 film “I Heart Huckabees.” He frequently collaborated with Plaza, directing her in the 2014 horror-comedy “Life After Beth,” the 2021 series “Cinema Toast,” and the 2022 feature “Spin Me Round.”
During the podcast, Plaza reflected on her grief, likening the experience to themes explored in the recent film “The Gorge,” starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy.
“It’s like [an] alien movie or something with Miles Teller,” Plaza said. “In the movie, there’s like a cliff on one side and there’s a cliff on the other side, then there’s [a] gorge in between and it’s filled with all these like monster people that are trying to get them.”
Plaza explained that the film resonated with her because it captured the way she experiences grief, which feels like “a giant ocean of awfulness, that’s like right there, and I can see it.”
“Sometimes I just want to dive into it and just like be in it,” she said. “Then sometimes I just look at it, and sometimes I try to get away from it. But, it’s always there.”
According to authorities, Baena’s body was found by an assistant at a home in the Los Angeles area on Jan. 3, as reported by TMZ. First responders who arrived at the scene declared Baena dead. The Los Angeles County medical examiner later determined that the cause of death was suicide by hanging.
Baena met and started dating Plaza in 2011. They married during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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