When she’s not dazzling the hearts and minds of queer women everywhere in Happiest Season, making it cool to be the weird girl in Parks and Rec, or being a scene-stealer in The White Lotus, Aubrey Plaza has been carrying on her own personal life with her longtime partner, Jeff Baena.
In May 2021, Plaza dropped the news that she and Baena had gotten married when she referred to him as “my husband” in an Instagram post. She told GQ in November 2022 that the two quietly wed in 2020 during a quickie ceremony.
“So proud of my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up another film that takes us to italia to cause some more trouble 😈 excited to be reunited with the amazing @alisonbrie (who also co-wrote this one!) and @theofficialsuperstar @sordociego @lauren_weedman and so many more fun people in this. Preparati!! 🇮🇹 ❤️,” she wrote.
She did not confirm when, exactly, she and Baena tied the knot initially.
The two have been together for over 12 years. Plaza and Baena appeared to keep their marriage secret from even the Hollywood circle. “Whoa!!!!,” wrote actress Mary Steenburgen. “Just took in the word husband and I am sending you both love and congratulations and blessings!!!!!!” She continued: “❤️❤️❤️and JEALOUS!!!!!😍”
People confirmed with Plaza’s rep that she and Baena got married. In her post, Plaza is referring to her latest project with Baena, which is called Spin Me Round. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the film is about a restaurant manager who wins an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy, where she can meet the restaurant company’s owner. The film also stars Fred Armisen, Ego Nwodim, and Alessandro Nivola.
The usually private Plaza isn’t one to talk about her relationship on social media, so this might be the first time many of her fans realize she was even with Baena.
Let’s get to know him.
He’s from Miami.
Per IMDB, Baena was born in Miami on June 29, 1977 and is 45 years old.
Spin Me Round was hardly his first directorial endeavor.
He’s been making films for more than 15 years. He co-wrote the 2004 film I Heart Huckabees, directed by David O. Russell and starring Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Isabelle Huppert, and more.
His previous directing credits include 2016’s Joshy, The Little Hours (2017), starring Brie and Dave Franco, and Horse Girl starring Brie and Molly Shannon.
They went on to work together on Showtime’s anthology series, Cinema Toast, and Plaza made her own directorial debut.
“It was very hectic while we were making the show because we were quarantined and Jeff, he created the show; it was his idea,” Plaza told People in 2021. “Our house became this strange post-production facility and he’s downstairs on his Zooms or on his sessions and I’m upstairs editing, we’re just going back and forth.”
It’s also not the first time he and his wife have worked together.
Baena created the 2021 TV series Cinema Toast, starring Plaza, and Plaza played the main character in Baena’s directorial debut, Life After Beth (2014).
Plaza has spoken about him in the past.
Some celebrity couples, including Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra, have spoken about how quarantine has strengthened their relationship. Plaza said something similar about her and Baena to People.
“We were quarantined for months and months like everybody else,” she said. “And we did enjoy it. I think it was, obviously other than all of the catastrophic things happening in the world, just on a personal level, relationship level, was kind of nice to just be forced to be in one place for that long. Could have gone either way, I guess.”
In 2019, she also told People about what it is like to be in a relationship with someone else in the entertainment business.
“I think that when you’re with someone that is in your field, they understand what you’re dealing with on a deeper level,” she said. “So obviously you are able to support each other and really understand kind of the journey that we’re both on.”
Plaza opened up more about their marriage and relationship in November 2022.
To GQ in November 2022, Plaza spoke about how she could understand her The White Lotus character Harper, using her own relationship with Baena as a reference point.
She said she could relate to Harper as “I don’t have kids,” but has always wantad them and even thought about starting a family during the COVID-19 pandemic “but was alarmed by the apocalyptic state of the world,” GQ wrote.
She added, “I’ve been with my husband for 12 years. I relate to being in a relationship that has peaks and valleys, and going through a rough patch and comparing yourself to another couple that seems perfect.”
Hilary Weaver is a freelance writer based in New York who writes about politics, queer issues, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, and every woman the Queen has ever made a dame. I saw Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again three times in theaters, and that’s pretty much all you need to know.