Amy Poehler and Aubrey Plaza

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

Aubrey Plaza is opening up about life after loss in a rare, emotional interview on Amy Poehler’s new podcast, "Good Hang with Amy Poehler."

Plaza, 40, lost husband Jeff Baena, 47, in January to suicide.

The actress hasn’t spoken much publicly about her loss, but that changed this week when her former “Parks and Rec” co-star Amy Poehler asked about it on her podcast — with notable warmth and grace.

“To get it out of the way, people want to see you and they want to see how you are,” Poehler said at the top of the episode, which dropped earlier this week. “You had this terrible, tragic year. You lost your husband, you’ve been dealing with that and looking for all different ways to find support… How are you feeling today?”

“Right in this present moment, I feel happy to be with you,” Plaza replied. “Overall, I’m here and I’m functioning and I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I’m okay, but you know it’s like a daily struggle obviously.”

Plaza then compared her grief to the plot of "The Gorge," describing “a giant ocean of just awfulness” and “monster people” trying to get her — an image she said was both “kind of a joke” and painfully accurate. 

In a seamless pivot that fans raved about in the comments, the conversation shifted to Rihanna’s eyes being “on the side of her head like a horse,” drawing laughter from both women.

Listeners praised the episode, with one saying Poehler handled it “with the skill of a seasoned talk show host and the empathy of a great grandmother.” 

Others called Plaza’s grief analogy “such an accurate depiction” and said they loved seeing her laugh with a close friend. 

Some remarked they had “never seen an interview with Aubrey Plaza like this one,” describing her as “a great, unique, one-of-a-kind soul.”

Poehler and Plaza spent the majority of the episode unpacking Plaza's career and reminiscing fondly on their time together at NBC.

Click here to watch.