Aubrey Plaza and her husband, filmmaker Jeff Baena, met over a classic board game – after she almost married another actor.
The White Lotus star’s romance with Baena was sparked during a game of Balderdash in 2011, Plaza revealed in a 2022 game GQ interview. In the board game, also called ‘Fictionary’, you have to guess the definitions of unusual words.
But before their charming first meeting, Plaza was in a serious relationship with Scott Pilgrim vs. Scott for about a year and a half. The World co-star Michael Cera.
She told me Rolling stone in 2023 that she and Cera almost “spontaneously took a detour and got married” in Los Vegas.
Baena, 47, tragically died Friday by hanging at his and Plaza’s Los Angeles home. He was discovered by an assistant around 10:30 am that day.
Plaza, 40, kept most of their 14-year relationship hidden from the public eye but offered glimpses into their lives over the years.
The couple worked together on several films, which Plaza said helped strengthen their bond. These films include Life After Beth and The Little Hour.
“I think when you’re with someone who’s in your field, they understand what you’re dealing with on a deeper level,” the actress told People magazine 2019.
Aubrey Plaza met her late husband Jeff Baena during a game of Balderdash in 2011, she revealed in 2022
Plaza once said that being in the same field helped them “understand” each other “on a deeper level”
“So it’s clear that you can support each other and really understand the journey that we’re both on.”
Baena shared his love of being able to work with his wife. He told Reel Talker in 2022: “She’s amazing. I would work with her if she wasn’t my wife, but luckily she is my wife.
‘The opportunity to do something creative (together) that we both find satisfying – how rare is that?’
In 2021, the discreet couple made headlines when they secretly got married in an impromptu backyard wedding.
The actress subtly launched their marriage while promoting their film Spin Me Round in May 2021, calling Baena her husband.
When she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show a few months later, she humorously revealed the details of their extraordinary wedding.
‘One evening we were a bit bored. So we got married and I’ll tell you how: Onehourmarriage.com. That’s real, look it up,” she said.
‘We were in lockdown. It got a little crazy, especially at my house.”
Plaza wanted to do something special for the couple’s tenth anniversary and half-jokingly suggested they get married. Baena liked the idea and they quickly organized a ceremony in their garden.
In the board game, also called ‘Fictionary’, you have to guess the definitions of unusual words
Baena, a filmmaker, was found dead at his Los Angeles home around 10:30 a.m. on Friday
The officiant she found online arrived after about two hours, and she said her husband almost missed the ceremony.
“My now husband went to pick up food from a restaurant because we had already ordered food,” she said.
“He almost missed the wedding because he had to wait so long for the order.”
But he made money back for their memorable wedding. Plaza said it was a “witch ceremony” and she made a “love altar” with stones, smoke, “facts of our love” and fire.
Plaza added that she asked her “real witch” neighbor to give her blessing. “She went into her house and was rummaging around. (Then) came out with a rosemary wreath which she gave to me. She was literally cackling,” the star revealed.
“The Alhambra (officer) showed up in a Hawaiian shirt with a briefcase. I don’t remember much about it, it was vague. But I’m pretty sure it was legal.”
Instead of traditional wedding attire, the couple wore tie-dye pajamas that Baena made. Plaza completed her look with a crown.
Plaza and Baena worked together on several of his films, including Life After Beth and The Little Hour
Baena had praised his wife and complimented her talent saying that he is lucky to be married to her
Take a look back at their 14-year relationship, amid news that Plaza’s Baena has died at 47
The Parks and Recreation actress had also detailed the tougher situations she and her husband had to overcome, including the “challenges” that come with working together and the “death threats” Baena received for dating a bisexual woman.
Plaza, who previously came out as bisexual, told Cosmopolitan that people in the LGBTQ+ community threatened Jeff after they got married.
“Jeff was getting death threats in his DMs,” she said. “People project so many things onto the wedding, but it wasn’t some big statement that I’m trying to make that I want everyone to respond to.”
When it came to working together on set, Plaza revealed that things could be “complicated” at times during the 2021 Drew Barrymore show.
While you’re talking to Cosmopolitan in 2022, Aubrey said that having a “little competition” helped keep their romance “interesting and fiery.”
‘There is also a strange power dynamic when one person is a director and one person is an actor.
‘There are all these unspoken rules. Don’t know. I don’t want to compete with my partner. I want to compete with everyone.”
The couple started dating sometime in 2011 and spontaneously married about a decade later
In an update following his death on Friday, the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office said the 47-year-old died by hanging
In 2022, Plaza said GQ that she was considering “having a baby during the pandemic,” but decided against it due to the “apocalyptic state of the world.”
She told the publication that she “always” wanted to have children, but she was honest about the fact that her relationship had its fair share of “rough spots.”
While reflecting on how she related to her White Lotus character Harper, she told the outlet, “I’ve been with my husband for 12 years. I’m talking about being in a relationship with ups and downs, going through a rough patch and comparing yourself to another couple who seems perfect.”