Aubrey Plaza opens up about ‘daily struggle’ after husband Jeff Baena’s death

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Aubrey Plaza is revealing how she copes with the ongoing grief following her husband Jeff Baena’s death at the age of 47 earlier this year.

Plaza appeared on Tuesday’s episode of the Good Hang podcast, hosted by her Parks and Recreation co-star Amy Poehler.

Poehler first inquired about Plaza’s “therapy dog,” who joined them in the studio for the interview.

“To get it out of the way, people want to see you and see how you are. They love you, and they want to see you,” Poehler told Plaza.

“You had this terrible, terrible, tragic year. You lost your husband. You’ve been dealing with that, and you’ve been looking for all different ways in which to feel and find support,” she continued.

“On behalf of all the people who feel like they know you, and the people who do know you, how are you feeling today?”

After a pause, Plaza replied, “Right in this very, very present moment, I feel happy to be with you.”

The Agatha All Along actress continued: “Overall, I’m here and I’m functioning. I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I’m OK, but it’s like a daily struggle, obviously.”

Plaza then went on to liken her mental state to the 2025 movie The Gorge, admitting that it is a “really dumb analogy” and “kind of a joke” but she actually means it.

“It’s an alien movie with Miles Teller,” she began.

“In the movie, there’s a cliff on one side and a cliff on the other side, and a gorge in between that’s filled with monster people trying to get them,” Plaza explained.

“I swear when I watched it I was like, ‘That feels like what my grief is like,’ or what grief could be like,” she continued.

“At all times, there’s a giant ocean of awfulness that’s right there and I can see it. Sometimes I just want to dive into it and be in it, and sometimes I look at it. Sometimes I try to get away from it,” she detailed.

“It’s always there, and the monster people are trying to get me — like (the movie’s stars) Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy.”

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Plaza and Baena tied the knot in 2021 after 10 years together.

In addition to their personal relationship, Plaza appeared in four of the writer-director’s five films, including 2014’s Life After Beth and 2017’s The Little Hours.

Baena was found dead at a Los Angeles home in January.

It was later reported that Baena died by suicide.

In a statement shared with Postmedia, Plaza and her late husband’s family called Baena’s death “an unimaginable tragedy.”

“We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support,” the brief statement read. “Please respect our privacy during this time.”