Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She began performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. After graduating from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Plaza made her feature film debut in Mystery Team (2009) and gained wide recognition for her role as April Ludgate on the NBC political satire sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015).

In film, Plaza had a supporting role in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and a leading role in Safety Not Guaranteed (2012). From 2017 to 2019, Plaza portrayed the Shadow King and Lenny Busker in the critically praised FX superhero series Legion, and produced and starred in the 2017 black comedy films The Little Hours and Ingrid Goes West. She also starred in the romantic comedy Happiest Season and thriller Black Bear (both 2020) as well as produced and played the title character in the crime film Emily the Criminal (2022).

Plaza received nominations for a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for her role as a strait-laced lawyer in the second season of the HBO anthology series The White Lotus (2022). Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023. In 2024, she starred in Megalopolis and My Old Ass and as Rio Vidal/Death in the Marvel Cinematic Universe miniseries Agatha All Along.

Aubrey Christina Plaza was born on June 26, 1984, in Wilmington, Delaware. The eldest of three sisters, she was born when her parents, Bernadette and David Plaza, were 19 and 20. Plaza said she was inspired by their work ethic; when she was young, they worked various jobs to make ends meet and attended night school to become an attorney and financial advisor. Her paternal family is Puerto Rican: her grandfather was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and moved to the mainland US when he was 17 years old. She has some Indigenous American (Taíno) and Basque heritage. Plaza's mother, who was adopted, is of Irish descent; Plaza's maternal (adoptive) grandparents were from Ireland, where their family remained, and her grandfather was also himself adopted. While her parents worked, Plaza was raised by her Irish grandparents and her Puerto Rican family.

As a child, Plaza loved films and actively engaged in imaginative play. She described herself as shy and quiet until middle school, when she discovered and acted in community theater. Plaza said her upbringing was "very Catholic", and she attended Ursuline Academy, an all-girls Catholic school. While in high school, she was student-council president of her school, performed in theatrical productions with the Wilmington Drama League and the Delaware Theatre Company, and made short films as a hobby. Aged sixteen, she represented Ursuline at a Delaware youth leadership conference held by Joe Biden. As a teen, Plaza's aunt gave her a job at a video store, during which she discovered her love of independent films and filmmakers that inspired her, such as John Waters and Christopher Guest. Waters' satirical film Serial Mom (1994) made a significant impact on her, and she connected with his comedic sensibility. She also enrolled at an improv school in Philadelphia and, in 2001, attended New York Film Academy's summer camp for filmmaking. She graduated the following year from Ursuline Academy and moved to New York. Plaza studied film and television production at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, graduating in 2006.

Plaza trained and performed improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre since 2004. She also performed at the Laugh Factory and The Improv. Plaza named Amy Poehler as an inspiration for her decision to perform improv. She described her experience at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre as "intoxicating", explaining: "It just truly felt like we are in an underground – literally, underground – theatre doing an art form that is so fucking hard, and just so fun when you get it right." While she was in film school, she had an internship at Saturday Night Live for the 2004–2005 season, and then became an NBC page. During this apprenticeship she appeared in an episode of 30 Rock in 2006. Though being a page at 30 Rockefeller Plaza was a lower position than her SNL internship, it is a "legendary" and highly selective program. She was also in two short films in 2006, Killswitch and In Love. In 2008, she was part of an Improv Everywhere sketch where she and others took an entire desktop computer and monitor to a Starbucks in New York City. Plaza had a recurring role in Maggie Carey's web series The Jeannie Tate Show, played the role of Robin Gibney in ESPN's Mayne Street (2008), and appeared in the first episode of "Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz" on Funny or Die.

In 2009, she made her feature film debut in Derrick Comedy's Mystery Team. She then played a standup comic and Seth Rogen's love interest in the black comedy-drama film Funny People, directed by Judd Apatow. As she did not have experience performing standup, she signed up for open mic nights at comedy clubs and bars in New York City to prepare for the role. For her audition tape, she performed and recorded five minutes of standup comedy at her friend Donald Glover's standup show. When Plaza flew to Los Angeles for Funny People, the film's casting director Allison Jones asked her if she wanted to attend other meetings while she was in the city. Jones set up a meeting with Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, who were developing Parks and Recreation. At the meeting, they told her the idea for the show's pilot and that they were considering giving Amy Poehler's character an assistant who was a doltish blonde. Plaza pitched them instead the character of a smart intern who is at the department only for college credit and does not care about the job, which Plaza thought would be an interesting, comedic contrast with Poehler's character. They liked the concept for the character and created April Ludgate. Plaza, who said that in real life she was like Poehler's earnestly hard-working character, took inspiration from her younger sister for April's apathetic disposition. Plaza played the role from 2009 to 2015. She received praise for her performance, and April was considered one of the show's breakout characters.

While Plaza was in Los Angeles for Funny People and Parks and Recreation, Allison Jones also recommended that she audition for Edgar Wright's romantic action comedy film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). Plaza was cast in the film, playing the supporting character Julie Powers. On March 12, 2010, Plaza performed at A Night of 140 Tweets: A Celebrity Tweetathon for Haiti, produced by Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Ben Stiller, and Mike Rosenstein, at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles. In the breaks between filming Parks and Recreation seasons, Plaza appeared in other projects, films and television series. She appeared in a CollegeHumor short alongside Jason Bateman and Will Arnett. In 2011, she had a recurring role in the sketch comedy series Portlandia, and guest starred as "The Princess" in the comedic sci-fi web series Troopers on CollegeHumor. She also appeared in the comedy-drama film Damsels in Distress (2011) and the romantic comedy 10 Years (2011).