LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 Writer-director Jeff Baena, whose darkly comedic independent films included 鈥淭he Little Hours鈥 and who was married to his frequent creative collaborator Aubrey Plaza, has died. He was 47.
Baena was found dead Friday morning at 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 鈥淚 Heart Huckabees鈥 and wrote and directed five of his own films, four of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
He had been dating Plaza for three years before she starred in his 2014 directorial debut, the zombie comedy 鈥淟ife After Beth." His next film, 2016's 鈥淛oshy,鈥 featured Thomas Middleditch as a man who gets together with friends months after his fiancee commits suicide.
The son of an attorney and 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 cinema was sparked after watching Stanley Kubrick's 鈥淎 Clockwork Orange鈥 and Federico Fellini's 鈥8 1/2鈥 as a child.
鈥淚 was always drawn to left-of-center things,鈥 he told Jim Alexander two years ago in an interview for the Reel Talker YouTube channel.
Baena said in the same interview that it was 鈥渁mazing鈥 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 television series 鈥淧arks and Recreation鈥 and was nominated for an Emmy for her role on 鈥淭he White Lotus.鈥 The couple married in 2021.
鈥淭he opportunities to create together, to do something creative where we're both fulfilled, it's like, how rare is that? 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 his mother, Barbara Stern, stepfather Roger Stern, father Scott Baena, stepmother Michele Baena, brother Brad Baena and stepsiblings Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman. ___ This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
