Yahoo Lifestyle Aubrey Plaza Makes a Heartbreaking Statement Following Husband Jeff Baena's Death
Indie filmmaker Jeff Baena has died at 47. Baena was known for his work on comedies like Life After Beth and Joshy, as well as his occasional collaborations with wife Aubrey Plaza.
The two started dating in 2011, and since maintained a relationship that lived largely out of the spotlight, only occasionally making public appearances together or speaking about each other to the press.
After 10 years of dating, Plaza and Baena quietly tied the knot in 2021. Plaza confirmed the news in a rare Instagram post dedicated to Baena, in which she referred to him as “my darling husband.”
Following his recent passing, Plaza made a heartbreaking statement via her rep: “This is an unimaginable tragedy. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.”
Ahead, everything we know about Baena.
He was a director and screenwriter.
Baena boasted several directing and writing credits for various independent film projects, such as Spin Me Round (2022), The Little Hours (2017), Joshy (2016), and Life After Beth (2014). He collaborated with Alison Brie to write the screenplay for 2020 psychological drama Horse Girl, in which Brie also stars alongside Debby Ryan, Molly Shannon, and John Ortiz.
He studied at New York University.
According to Fast Company, Baena studied film at New York University before moving to Los Angeles to work as a production assistant for Academy Award–winning director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future). He also briefly worked for director David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) before eventually starting to launch his own independent projects.
Aubrey said her relationship with Jeff was “all about balance.”
Speaking to People in 2019, Plaza offered some rare insight into her relationship with Baena, describing how the two of them support each other creatively.
“I think that when you’re with someone that is in your field, they understand what you’re dealing with on a deeper level. So obviously you are able to support each other and really understand kind of the journey that we’re both on,” she told the outlet. “So, I think that can be really great. But, you know, working with your partner can always be challenging. There’s a lot of things we do separately, and I think that it’s all about balance.”
Plaza added, “I think that one of the great things about our careers is that we are forced to be independent, take little breaks, go off and do our things, and come back. So it’s kind of fun. Nothing is ever the same. You don’t want to spend too much time apart. But I think that there’s a way that it can work, and there’s a balance in that.”
Jeff and Aubrey worked on numerous projects together.
The two collaborated on several films throughout their relationship, including Life After Beth, Joshy, The Little Hours, and Spin Me Round, with Plaza performing in all four. Most recently, they worked together on Baena’s Showtime anthology series Cinema Toast. Plaza made her directorial debut helming the third episode of the show’s first season, “Quiet Illness.”
“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 recalled in a 2021 interview with People. “Our house became this strange postproduction facility, and he’s downstairs on his Zooms or on his sessions, and I’m upstairs editing, we’re just going back and forth.”
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