Aubrey Plaza might be most well-known for her deadpan “Parks and Recreation” character, April Ludgate, but she’s a lot more than a one-note actor. Over the years, Plaza has risen from playing the love interest in buddy comedies to starring in her own dramas and horror flicks, showing off her formidable acting chops along the way.
Plaza began her career performing improv and sketch comedy at New York City’s Upright Citizens Brigade. She also appeared in early 2010s classics like “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” before fully breaking through in “Parks and Recreation.” In more recent years, Plaza has been showing off her more dramatic chops, appearing in everything from the “Chucky” remake, “Child’s Play,” to the crime thriller “Emily the Criminal.” She also made waves as Harper, a woman challenged by her husband’s newfound wealth and the stuck-up friends vacationing alongside them, on “The White Lotus” season two. In the fall of 2023, she made her onstage acting debut alongside Christopher Abbott in the off-Broadway play “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea,” where she plays a woman who connects unexpectedly with a man (Abbott) at a Bronx bar.
No matter what role she’s playing, Plaza tends to steal every scene she’s in. Ahead, check out Plaza’s best movie and TV roles over the years.