Aubrey Plaza instantly became an internet favorite after her stint in The White Lotus season 2. The 38-year-old actress has been quite underrated in the past few years. Now, even her awkwardness is celebrated as just her being "an alien sent here on earth."
But before fame, the Parks and Recreation star faced financial issues and was fired many times during her early acting days. Here's a closer look at her rough past.
Aubrey Plaza Struggled Financially Before Fame
In a recent interview with WealthSimple, Plaza opened up about her family's financial struggles when she was a kid. "My mom got pregnant with me when she was 20," she said.
"My dad grew up in a really, really bad neighborhood in Philadelphia. My mom grew up poor in Delaware." Her mom eventually became a lawyer after putting herself through night school. Her dad, on the other hand, also dabbled into different jobs until he made it big in finance.
"He's a wealth management ... personal, whatever," Plaza said of her dad's profession. "He worked his way up, Wolf of Wall Street-style."
Though Plaza's parents couldn't have known she'd be an actress, they'd always believed that she'd be "a not so very ordinary girl," as said in the lyrics of Bread's song, Aubrey — where her name came from.
"I think I'm the only Aubrey Plaza that exists in the entire world; I've looked it up," the comedian told W magazine. "I did find out that my name means 'ruler of the elves.' If you look it up in a baby book, it's a man's name and it means king of the elves, so..."
In high school, Plaza was a "popular but not necessarily cool." She told Cosmopolitan that she was "disruptive but funny" and considered herself a "type-A overachiever."
As most would imagine, she and her friends were also the goofy types who would dress up in public places, purposely making people uncomfortable. "The funniest thing about it was that most people don't react, they ignore," she said of that time.
Why Aubrey Plaza Got Fired A Lot Early In Her Career
Before making it as an actress, Plaza worked odd jobs in Queens. She said that back then, she was "eating scoops of peanut butter for lunch" and was getting fired a lot as she tried to make ends meet.
"It's not a good feeling — it sucks," she recalled. Apparently, she couldn't commit to the places she worked in because she prioritized acting. She'd quit if a manager didn't respect that.
After multiple internships and working as an NBC page, Plaza got into improv and sketch comedy 2004. She also appeared on the online series, The Jeannie Tate Show, ESPN's Mayne Street, and in the pilot episode of Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz on Funny or Die. In 2009, she played Daisy, Seth Rogen's love interest in Funny People and appeared on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, alongside her ex-boyfriend, Michael Cera.
But what really put her on the map that same year was playing April Ludgate in Parks and Rec from 2009 to 2016.
Her deadpan role was deemed one of the show's breakout characters. After her reemergence in The White Lotus, it was reported in November 2022 that Plaza was cast in an undisclosed role in the Disney+ series, Agatha: Coven of Chaos, which is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
How Much Is Aubrey Plaza's Net Worth In 2023?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Plaza has an estimated $8 million fortune. Parks and Rec played a big part in achieving her current net worth. But aside from acting, she's also invested in real estate. In July 2016, she bought a home in the Hollywood Hills for $1.6 million. She later listed it in August 2022 for $2.25 million and quickly found a buyer that paid very close to asking. Two months later, she bought another home in the same area for $4.7 million.
Despite her success and her dad's being in finance, Plaza admitted that she still doesn't know much about money. "The irony is that [my dad] actually didn't teach me anything about money — and that's what he does," she said, adding that she sometimes imagines losing all her wealth. "Sometimes I fantasize about it all going away, and then getting back to my roots."
Being a Hollywood star didn't change her relationship with money at all. "I don't honestly care that much about money," she explained. "I care about it in a way of — I need to be responsible and I don't want to be in that position again like when I was living in Astoria, going paycheck to paycheck."