Aubrey Plaza is in everyone’s thoughts as actors pay tribute to her husband, Jeff Baena, after the director’s shocking death.
Baena’s friend and longtime collaborator Adam Pally shared an emotional Instagram statement on Sunday, January 5, which read, “He was a talented director with impeccable taste and vision, he was a connector of people, a fosterer of possibility, the guy who knows where the best restaurant was no matter where you were. An overly gracious host with an almost disturbing open door policy, a film encyclopedia, and most importantly to me a friend.”
Pally, 42, who worked with Baena on Life After Beth, Joshy and The Little Hours, recalled how the filmmaker “strove for truth” and that “nothing could sound, look or feel inauthentic” because it was a “direct representation” of how authentic Baena was.
“You never worried that Jeff wasn’t telling you the way it is. Cause Jeff’s virtue was telling you the way it was,” Pally continued. “My heart breaks for my friend Aubrey and the Baena family and for all of us who spent time on his sets or at his house or in his orbit. Thanks for believing in me Jeff, may your memory be a blessing.”
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In the comments section, Jeff’s brother, Brad Baena, replied, “I am broken.” Us Weekly confirmed on Saturday, January 4, that Jeff died by suicide at age 47. Jeff was an indie director known for projects such as I Heart Huckabees, Life After Beth, The Little Hours, Horse Girl and Spin Me Round.
Jeff often collaborated with his wife, whom he began dating in 2011 and married nearly a decade later.
“My first movie was a big learning experience on all fronts, and so working with her was a benefit because we have a shorthand and a close relationship,” Baena said of Plaza, 40, in an August 2022 interview with Newsweek. “As I’ve made more and more stuff, I’ve come to appreciate everything that she brings.”
Baena praised Plaza’s dedication to her craft, adding, “She’s insanely talented and so smart and obviously really good at producing. And she’s writing. There are very few people who can wear as many hats as her, as elegantly as she does.”
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He continued: “Generally people point her out in whatever project she’s in as being the best part. She’s, like, insanely talented and I’m very lucky to have her in my life.”
Plaza, meanwhile, previously discussed having a partner in the same industry.
“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 People in 2019. “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.”
The actress said she enjoyed getting to work alongside Jeff. “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,” she noted. “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.”
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