Droll, deadpan and always dry, Aubrey Plaza is an icon for depressed millennials. Since her breakout role as Parks and Recreation’s April Ludgate, the Delaware-born, LA-based actor quickly became Hollywood’s go-to weirdo for comedies. Recently though, she’s been given more opportunities to shine in more serious drama, horror, fantasy and romcom roles. We love to see it.
As she tries to survive season two of HBO’s The White Lotus, playing the (so far) self-serious Harper, we’ve revisited every major Aubrey Plaza performance so far.
26. Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever (2014)
Sorry to Aubrey-voiced Grumpy Cat, but the festive theme can’t save this meme cash grab.
25. Playing It Cool (2014)
And not even Chris Evans as a leading man can save this mid-2010s romcom disaster.
24. Funny People (2009)
Aubrey’s doing the best she can with a mid Judd Apatow script.
23. The Driftless Area (2015)
Driftless in name and driftless in plot. Starring Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, Alia Shawkat and Aubrey, this slow-burning thriller is so indie it’s wince-inducing.
22. Joshy (2016)
Not enough Aubrey screen time, but the cast of improv legends (Thomas Middleditch, Nick Kroll, Brett Gelman, Jenny Slate) make this low-key, comedy bro hangout very watchable.
21. Damsels in Distress (2011)
A typical acerbic side character gig for Aubrey, this campus movie starring Greta Gerwig is a cute comedy of manners.
20. The End of Love (2013)
Aubrey Plaza plays Aubrey Plaza in this meta drama. It’s a cool experiment, but a little self-indulgent of director Mark Webber to cast his cool actor mates as their cool actor selves.
19. Best Sellers (2021)
If you watch the trailer, you’ve watched the movie. Aubrey clearly just wanted to work with Michael Caine and good for her.
18. Dirty Grandpa (2016)
Okay, this smutty comedy gets a bad rap, but Robert De Niro is clearly having a great time, as are the cast surrounding him, including Aubrey as a horny college girl. Her salacious banter with RDN makes this a worthy watch.
17. Mystery Team (2009)
A very 00s comedy (and that’s not a good thing), Mystery Team features Aubrey in her first film role, and also stars baby Donald Glover, making it an interesting insight into the early years of two TV comedy legends’ careers.
16. Spin Me Round (2022)
Unfortunately the poster for Spin Me Round is far superior to the film itself, but the chemistry between Alison Brie and Aubrey is palpable.
15. Ned Rifle (2014)
This is the third movie in Hal Hartley’s trilogy, so some background viewing might be required to get the full story. Playing an unhinged stalker, Aubrey’s delivery is perfect for Hal’s deadpan dialogue.
14. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)
Raunchy sex comedies tend to be hit and miss and this one veers towards the latter category. But Aubrey and her costar Anna Kendrick as the two titular wedding dates, who are as vulgar and lewd as the movie’s guys, more than make up for it.
13. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Aubrey’s supporting role in Edgar Wright’s film is now iconic and for good reason. This was the first time most comedy watchers sat up and took notice of the actor’s droll humour.
12. Life After Beth (2014)
Aubrey plays Beth, who is a zombie in this romcom-horror mashup. Her role is emotionally and physically tricky — she has to play leading lady, romantic interest and undead creature, often at the same time — but she nails it.
11. An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (2018)
This movie is weird. Like really weird. The film’s absurdity doesn’t serve its story or comedy, but the cringe-but-free dance scene between Aubrey and Jemaine Clement is so endearing that we’ve bumped its ranking.
10. Addicted to Fresno (2015)
Jamie Babbit also directed But I’m a Cheerleader, and Natasha Lyonne plays Aubrey Plaza’s love interest in this, making it an automatic win.
9. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
There’s some predictable casting here with Aubrey playing a wise-ass intern in a hoodie, but the film itself is great. Centring on a man who places an ad looking for companions to go time-travelling, the film explores society’s outsiders and pushes its characters further than one-dimensional stereotypes.
8. Happiest Season (2020)
Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis play a lesbian couple, while Aubrey plays the latter’s secret ex in an assortment of blazers… Merry Christmas to me, personally. It’s queer, it’s festive and it’s actually very sweet.
7. The Little Hours (2017)
Based on Boccaccio’s The Decameron, in which a young man gets a job at a convent to perv on nuns who perv right back on him, The Little Hours is a riot. Dressed in period garb, Aubrey, Alison Brie and Kate Micucci are three horny nuns who torment their convent’s newest employee. It’s ridiculous, mostly improvised and a solid comedy.
6. Emily the Criminal (2022)
In this surprisingly straightforward thriller, Aubrey plays a gig worker who turns to fraud to pay back her student loan. It’s a rare dramatic role for the actor, but she channels the suspenseful action impressively well.
5. Parks and Recreation (2009-2015, 2020)
Aubrey’s breakout role as April Ludgate remains iconic to the Tumblr generation. Inscrutable and always deadpan, Aubrey’s nihilistic receptionist was, and still is, a fan favourite.
4. The To Do List (2013)
It’s 1993 and Aubrey is a nerdy high school valedictorian who sleeps in a Clinton T-shirt. Sex is one thing she can’t study her way through, so she decides to take matters into her own hands (quite literally), and creates a “to-do” list. It’s silly, funny, and, on release in 2013, still felt quite radical as a sex comedy centred on a woman’s experience.
3. Black Bear (2020)
This meta-drama plays out like a recurring nightmare: in a cabin in the woods, three characters deconstruct the ethics of art and gender politics with frantic, explosive results. Aubrey is brilliant as the film’s centre; simultaneously desperate, vulnerable and egotistical.
2. Legion (2017-2019)
Underrated when it was still airing, Legion really is one of the best Marvel adaptations ever made. Using telekinesis superpowers to explore mental illness, it created dazzling parallel stories of mind-bending illusions. One of these illusions is Aubrey’s character, Lenny, an unhinged trickster and fellow asylum patient who dances, charms and maims her way through this bizarre universe.
1. Ingrid Goes West (2017)
This millennial satire has Aubrey playing bitter and maniacal at her best. Depressed and addicted to Instagram, Aubrey’s character becomes obsessed with a Californian influencer played by Elizabeth Olsen, and quickly begins to spiral. The film skewers avocado-on-toast cliches but also understands the parasocial relationships created by social media.
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