Aubrey Plaza shared rare insight on marriage to Jeff Baena ahead of his shock death at 47 during a recent Howard Stern interview.

The 40-year-old actress spoke about being married to a writer-director while making an appearance on The Howard Stern Show about three months ago. 

On the radio show in September 2024, she spoke about maintaining friendships and a relationship in her line of work. 

When Stern suggested that being married to a filmmaker rather than an actor was ‘better for [her],’ the Parks and Recreation alum agreed. 

She also spoke about how is ‘happy’ overall, in spite of Stern pushing back. 

During a recent interview with Howard Stern, Aubrey Plaza humorously mentioned that her job was not bringing her the expected happiness, stating that ‘It’s lonely at the top.’

She offered a rare glimpse into her marriage with Jeff Baena before his sudden passing at the age of 47. The interview took place in January 2017 in Park City, Utah.

‘I don’t know how much of this is a put on, but it sounds like you’re not that happy,’ he told her.

‘I really don’t know. I can’t tell you what’s real or not. That’s my problem.’ 

When Stern asked if she has friends that she ‘doubts whether they’re really your friends,’ she replied: ‘No, I’m a pretty selective friend.

Aubrey Plaza highlighted that most of her close friends have been with her since high school. She expressed that while she has made new friends, she is not actively seeking to expand her social circle.

To that, he then asked her what she was ‘doubting is real’ and she responded that it was her ‘feelings.’

The White Lotus star elaborated and explained how being an actor means she is good at ‘manipulating her feelings,’ a trait that Stern suggested is ‘dangerous.’ 

He spoke about confusing feelings and asked her about feeling competitive when dating someone else in the same career. 

She said she ‘never really, like, really really dated an actor, like, been with an actor for a long time or anything like that.’ 

The 40-year-old actress spoke about being married to a writer-director while making an appearance on The Howard Stern Show about three months ago. When Stern suggested that being married to a filmmaker rather than an actor was ‘better for [her],’ the Parks and Recreation alum agreed; pictured October 2024 in New York City

Plaza taped the interview with Stern in September 2024, just months before her husband was found dead at the age of 47 in their Los Angeles home; pictured July 2014 in New York City

Back in 2021, she also spoke fondly of him while talking about being both work and life partners with him. 

While making an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, she also spoke about their spontaneous nuptials during the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘It’s so great, it’s so complicated,’ she told the talk show host and fellow actor. 

‘It’s, like, extreme highs and extreme, you know, complications. It’s a really hard thing to navigate, but we’ve been together for 11 years. We just muscle our way through it.’ 

She also spoke about how they got married in the tie-dye pajamas he made for them during the pandemic in their backyard. 

That same year, she also told People that the Covid-19 pandemic strengthened their relationship. 

‘We were quarantined for months and months like everybody else,’ she gushed. ‘And we did enjoy it. I think it was, obviously other than all of the catastrophic things happening in the world, just on a personal level, relationship level, was kind of nice to just be forced to be in one place for that long.’ 

Plaza recalled that they tied the knot spontaneously in front of an ‘altar of their love objects.’

Plaza taped the interview with Stern in September 2024, just months before her husband was found dead at the age of 47 in their Los Angeles home.

Officers responded to the home at 10:25 am, the Los Angeles Fire Department told the DailyMail.com. 

Officers responded to the home at 10:25 am, the Los Angeles Fire Department told the DailyMail.com

Baena secretly married The White Lotus star in May 2021 a decade after they met in 2011, keeping their relationship largely out of the limelight 

‘Death was determined for an approximately 47-year old male, no transport,’ they said in a statement. 

The family told Deadline that they are devastated by the news and are asking for privacy at this time.  

DailyMail.com has reached out to Baena representatives and to the police for comment.

Baena got into film after he graduated from New York University with a film degree and moved to LA to launch his career. 

He worked low-level jobs for big directors, including Robert Zemeckis and David O. Russell as he found his footing in the industry. He worked as a production assistant for Zemeckis and as an assistant editor for Russell. 

He is best known for directing Life After Beth, his directorial debut and one Plaza starred in, and The Little Hours. 

Their fans only discovered the pair had wed after she sneakily referred to him as her ‘darling husband’ in an Instagram post

He also co-wrote I Heart Huckabees, which was nominated for a 2004 Gotham Award for Best Feature. 

He also wrote Life After Beth, which premiered at Sundance in 2014. His film Joshy also premiered at the famous festival and was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize. 

The Miami native also worked on Horse Girl and Spin Me Round. 

For his television works, he directed and executive produced Showtime series Cinema Toast. He co-directed the product with his wife. 

He secretly married The White Lotus star in May 2021 a decade after they met in 2011, keeping their relationship largely out of the limelight.

Plaza has not publicly commented on the death of her husband. 

The actress’s final Instagram post with her husband revealed how ‘proud’ she was of him.

Their fans only discovered the pair had wed after she sneakily referred to him as her ‘darling husband’ in an Instagram post

In her final post with Baena shared in May 2021, the award-winning actress praised her ‘darling husband.’

‘So proud of my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up another film that take us to Italia to cause some more trouble,’ she captioned the post.

The heartbreaking last post together featured the star couple lovingly gazing into each other’s eyes and was accompanied with screenshots of a Deadline article detailing their ‘new assignment’ – the 2022 film Spin Me Round. 

Baena is survived by his wife, his mother Barbra Stern, stepfather Roger Stern, his stepmother Michele Baena, his brother Brad Baena, and his step siblings Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman.