Aubrey Plaza is having a moment. After being best known for playing the dark and deadpan April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation, Plaza re-emerged last year as the dark and deadpan … and sexy Harper on The White Lotus. But it’s not that Plaza is typecast — she’s just playing Aubrey Plaza as evidenced by this old Today Show interview in which she discussed being a (very bad) NBC page in the early 2000s.
Yes, Plaza began her career as an NBC page (while also performing stand-up and improv at Upright Citizen’s Brigade) and even tried out for Saturday Night Live before landing the role of a lifetime on Parks and Recreation.
— The SNL Standby Line ⇾ Saturday Night Live! (@standbyline) January 22, 2023
And so Saturday’s gig hosting SNL was a homecoming for Plaza, an opportunity to fulfill her dream of being on Saturday Night Live, and to reunite with her Parks and Rec co-star, boss and SNL alum, Amy Poehler. It was a celebration of Plaza’s growth, and (for the most part) the writers rose to the occasion, giving Plaza material that fit her dark and deadpan brand.
Spending a lifetime of hunting monsters takes its toll. There comes a time when you gotta let out that pain inside you. If you don’t, it’ll eat you alive.
