Ultimate kooky kid Aubrey Plaza chats about her latest flick Life After Beth, joined by co-star Dane Dehaan and Director Jeff Baena
You’ll never meet more of an awkward babe than Aubrey Plaza. The thinking man’s pin up has featured in hit indie flicks such as Safety Not Guaranteed, The To Do List and Scott Pilgrim Versus the World and we’ve fallen hard. Her dean-pan cool is infectious and has set tongues wagging across the world so who better to play smoldering girlfriend back-from-the-dead in Life After Beth. Written and directed by Plaza’s boyfriend Jeff Baena, the zombie-com features lady of the moment Anna Kendrick and John C. Reilly. Given the cast of his dreams, Director Jeff Baena felt as though he had pulled off the ultimate heist, “It felt like I was legitimately pulling off a scam,” he laughs.
Plaza’s stage presence is electric and the audience hangs on her every word. Her quick-witted quips prove she’s very much the driving force behind her characters. “If anyone wants me I’m going to be across the street burning my iPhone and that’s an open invitation so that we can just live in reality and interact as humans and not as zombies,” says Aubrey. Not one to shy away from the dark side Plaza took to the role a little too easily. “Honestly I feel like there’ve been many times in my life when I’ve been drawn to demonic forces,” she admits. “It’s easier for me to play a zombie rather than a human”. Nevertheless stage five was ample for Plaza on the zombie scale. “I had blood all over me and dirt, it was pretty messed up but to answer your question I was not like “Give it to me more!” she laughs. Agreeably, Plaza was ready to suffer for her art, which resulted in a serious injury whilst working with kitchen appliances, as she explains: “It was really fun to have an oven strapped to my back and, the first time I ripped my abdominal wall”. Impressive.
Lead by Hell raiser Aubrey Plaza, Life After Beth is a metaphorical approach to exploring relationships and how a person can change right in front of your eyes. Baena’s intention, objective fulfilled.
Life After Beth premiered at Cannes Film Festival this year is released in the UK on October 3rd
Words: Elinor Sigman