Writer-director Jeff Baena, whose darkly comedic independent films included “The Little Hours” and who was married to his frequent creative collaborator Aubrey Plaza, has died. He was 47.
Baena was found dead Friday morning at a Los Angeles home, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. The circumstances of his death remained unclear Saturday, and the office said it was investigating and a full report would not be available until the case is closed.
Baena co-wrote David O. Russell’s 2004 film “I Heart Huckabees” and wrote and directed five of his own films, four of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Jewish Baena was married to actress Aubrey Plaza, who starred in four of his five films, including the 2014 zombie rom-com “Life After Beth,” which revolved around a woman with a Jewish family who rises from the dead. His next movie, “Joshy,” also involved Jewish characters.
“I wanted to explore the way upper-middle-class Jewish men in their early to mid 30’s articulate their feelings in the face of tragedy using primarily Jewish actors and actresses after having explored the way upper-middle-class Jewish men in their early 20’s articulate their feelings in the face of tragedy using primarily non-Jewish actors and actresses,” he told Borrowingtape.com in 2016.
The son of an attorney and a teacher, Baena grew up in Miami and attended film school at New York University. He told podcaster Marc Maron in a 2017 interview that his interest in cinema was sparked after watching Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” and Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2” as a child.
Aubrey Plaza, right, and Jeff Baena arrive at the premiere of ‘The Little Hours’ at the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival in Culver City, California, on June 19, 2017. (Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)
“I was always drawn to left-of-center things,” he told Jim Alexander two years ago in an interview for the Reel Talker YouTube channel.
Baena said in the same interview that it was “amazing” to work with Plaza, who appeared in four of his five films. The 40-year-old actor and producer rose to fame playing April Ludgate on the television series “Parks and Recreation” and was nominated for an Emmy for her role in “The White Lotus.” The couple married in 2021.
“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.
A representative for Plaza said that in addition to Plaza, 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.
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