Aubrey Plaza‘s devotion to her dirty grandpa character in panic Robert de Niro. During a London Film Festival ScreenTalk session hosted by Leigh Singer for Emily the criminal (which Plaza stars and produces), Plaza reflected on her first interactions with the Hollywood legend. In the 2016 raunchy comedy, Plaza Lenore, a young woman interested in De Niro’s character, played Lieutenant Colonel Richard “Dick” Kelly. Plaza revealed that to get her character, she became Lenore before the cameras started rolling:
“I didn’t really have a relationship with him [De Niro] off camera because it is him. I didn’t have time to get to know him, he appears in a cloud of smoke and there is no talking at the water cooler.” She continued, “By the time he showed up, I’ll be in character. My character had one goal: to have sex with him. I acted completely insane as the character because we were about to shoot.” he understood it wasn’t me. You’d think he would because he’s an actor and a great one.”
After their first interaction, one of her agents told Plaza that they “heard Bob was a little panicked.” Fortunately, Plaza got a chance to reveal her authentic self when De Niro invited the cast and crew over for lunch at his house:
“I showed up and he said, ‘Who are you sweetie?’ and after that he was normal. In the beginning I think I came across very strong. I did some questionable things that I wouldn’t do again.”
Their relationship was quickly restored, and Plaza added that the two “really got along” after that.
Plaza’s Growing Career
During the conversation, Plaza also discussed how she got into production and her future hopes of directing. Although Plaza’s first production credit was in the 2017 comedy The small hoursshe called her second production credit Ingrid goes west “her king of comedy”. Plaza said that after reading the script, she met with the film’s director, Matt Spicer, and “demands” to be cast in the film. She felt so passionate about the film that she wanted an off-screen role as well:
“I was just very determined not only to act in the movie, but also to be a producer on it so that I could have more influence on the movie because I had a really strong feeling about it. I felt like I understood how to make it right,” she said.
While Plaza has managed to act, with credit for her work on films like Ingrid goes west and Black bearand producing, she later sees another role for herself in Hollywood:
“I want to direct. I’m just really fond of it and I’ve been offered a lot to direct at this point, but I just have a strong feeling that I want to direct something that I wrote myself,” she said. “I’ve written something that I’ll be directing, but I’m just really busy. But I’ll get there.”
Known for her sardonic comedy style, Plaza gained recognition as April Ludgate on NBC’s Parks and Recreation. She currently plays Laura on Little devil and will star in season two of HBO’s award-winning series white Lotus. She’s Cast in Francis Ford Coppola’s Upcoming Passion Project megapolis. In Emily the criminal, she portrays the titular character, a young woman in debt to art school who turns to crime to gain financial freedom. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was later released in the US in August. It will be released in the UK later this year.