LOS ANGELES — 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 years old.
Baena was found dead Friday morning in a Los Angeles home, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office. His death was ruled a suicide.
Baena co-wrote David O. Russell’s 2004 film “I Heart Huckabees” and has written and directed five of his own films, four of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
He dated Plaza for three years before she starred in his first film in 2014, the zombie comedy “Life After Beth.” His next film, 2016’s “Joshy,” starred Thomas Middleditch as a man who reunites with friends months after his fiancée’s suicide.
The son of a lawyer 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 film was sparked after watching Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” and Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2” as a child.
“I’ve always been attracted to left-of-center things,” he told Jim Alexander two years ago in an interview for the YouTube channel Reel Talker.
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 TV 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 it’s rare? 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 her mother, Barbara Stern, her stepfather Roger Stern, her father Scott Baena, her stepmother Michele Baena, her brother Brad Baena and her stepsi -siblings Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman.
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This story includes a discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988.
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