Aubrey Plaza doesn’t wait for a director to yell “action” before she gets into a character’s mind. The talented actress, comedian and Hollywood star may not consider herself as “method” as, say, Daniel Day-Lewis, but she’s in character long before the cameras start rolling. While filming the raunchy 2016 comedy Dirty Grandpa, for example, she transformed herself so completely into her character on set that Robert De Niro barely recognized her at the wrap party, even though she’d played his on-screen love interest. And while filming her upcoming sci-fi epic Megalopolis, legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola only called Plaza by her character’s name.
Plaza’s boldness in front of the camera and dedication to her craft have undoubtedly contributed to her meteoric rise from indie darling to A-list movie star, but in her Stern Show debut on Wednesday, she admitted that sometimes she goes a bit too far. Take her critically acclaimed performance in Season 2 of “The White Lotus,” for example — Aubrey was so excited to be on the show that she had trouble settling into her first few scenes.
“I was at 11… I was so aggressive,” Plaza told Howard. “One of my first interactions with Mike (White) as a director, I said… ‘I’ll have the fish!’ He said, ‘Jesus Christ, can’t you just order the fish like a normal person?'”
Normality may not have been on the agenda when Plaza filmed “Megalopolis,” in which co-stars celebrated eccentrics such as Shia LaBeouf, Adam Driver, Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, among others.
“I immediately felt at home. We all got along well,” Plaza said of working with the talented cast.
“Megalopolis,” which Aubrey believed had to be the most expensive independent film ever made, isn’t the only mega-project the former “Parks and Recreation” star has lined up for September. She also appears in Marvel’s Disney+ miniseries “Agatha All the Way” and the Margot Robbie-produced coming-of-age dramedy “My Old Ass,” which hits theaters Friday.
Aubrey’s candid conversation with Howard wasn’t just about her successful career, of course. They also talked about topics ranging from her basketball injuries and the stroke she survived at age 20 to hosting “Saturday Night Live,” where she previously worked as an intern. Watch more from Aubrey Plaza’s debut on the Stern Show (below).
Surviving a stroke at 20
Phantom ACL?
“My Old Ass” hits theaters on Friday, September 13th.
