Aubrey Plaza has broken her silence after her husband, Jeff Baena, died last Friday at the age of 47.
Baena was found dead Friday morning at a Los Angeles home, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.
In a statement shared with Postmedia, Plaza, who appeared in four of his five films, and her late husband’s family called the writer-director’s death “an unimaginable tragedy.”
“We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time,” the brief statement read.
According to PEOPLE, Baena died by suicide.
Baena co-wrote David O. Russell’s 2004 film I Heart Huckabees, which was nominated for a Gotham Award, and wrote and directed five of his own films, including 2012’s The End of Love, the 2014 zombie comedy Life After Beth, The Little Hours in 2017 and 2022’s Spin Me Round.
In a 2014 interview with Postmedia, Plaza, who became a household name thanks to her role on TV’s Parks & Rec, credited Life After Beth with allowing her to flex her acting muscles.
“There was a moment that it was very frustrating to me that people put me in a box, that April Ludgate box, and said, ‘Well, that’s a wrap on Aubrey Plaza, that’s all she can do,’” she said of her Parks & Rec character. “And that was frustrating but also a gift, because it’s a challenge for me to find parts where I can flex different muscles and it’s fun to surprise people … it’s even that much more satisfying when you do something that people won’t expect, especially dramatically.”
The couple also worked together on the 2021 anthology series Cinema Toast, which Plaza also directed.
The pair started dating in 2011 and fans found out they had gotten married when Plaza, 40, referred to Baena as her “darling husband” in an Instagram post in 2021.
Plaza opened up about the wedding on The Ellen Show, describing the ceremony as an impromptu moment.
“I just said ‘It’s our 10-year anniversary, we should do something, get an ice cream cone, you know, do something special. And then I joked about getting married and he’s like ‘Well, we probably couldn’t get married that fast,’” she said. “I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to get married on our actual anniversary? And then I Googled it, and I found OneHourMarriage.com, and then I called around 5 p.m., and I said ‘Can you come in an hour and marry me in our yard?’”
Plaza told PEOPLE in 2019 that working in the film industry allowed the couple to empathize with one another.
“Obviously, you are able to support each other and really understand kind of the journey that we’re both on. 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,” she told the magazine in an interview. “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.”
In an interview with Jim Alexander two years ago for the Reel Talker YouTube channel, Baena said it was “amazing” to work with Plaza.
“The opportunities to create together, to do something creative where we’re both fulfilled, it’s like how rare is that? She’s down and she’s so talented, so I’m really lucky,” Baena said.
According to the Associated Press, Baena is survived by his mother, Barbara Stern, stepfather Roger Stern, father Scott Baena, stepmother Michele Baena, brother Brad Baena and stepsiblings Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman.