Film director and writer Jeff Baena died on January 3 at the age of 47. According to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner, the cause of death was suicide. Baena was married to actress Aubrey Plaza after the two met in 2011. The director was known for leading works such as “Life After Beth,” in which Plaza starred, along with other titles including “The Little Hours,” “Horse Girl,” and “Joshy.”
Reports indicate that the Los Angeles Police Department had responded to a call near Baena’s residence last week, where the victim was pronounced dead on the scene. “The family is devastated and asks for privacy at this difficult time,” a representative of Baena said. “This is an unimaginable tragedy,” according to a statement from Plaza and the family. “We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.”
The news of Baena’s death sent shockwaves throughout the Hollywood community. The Sundance Film Festival wrote in a tribute to Baena on X, “We extend our heartfelt thanks to Jeff Baena for sharing his stories and contributing to the lasting memories we’ve built together.Jeff, we’ll miss your wit, humor, and daring vision. Rest in peace, friend.”
Plaza described her unconventional wedding ceremony with Baena during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Well, it was our 10 year anniversary. We were in the lockdown,” the actress told Ellen DeGeneres. “As you know, things got a little crazy, especially in my house, with the witch across the street, and my husband got really into tie dyeing. And when I say into tie dyeing, I mean 50 shirts a day.”
She continued, “And I just said, Hey, it’s our 10 year anniversary. We should do something, get an ice cream cone, or, you know, do something special. And then I joked about getting married, and he was like, well, we probably couldn’t get married that fast. And I said, Well, wouldn’t it be nice to get married on our actual anniversary?”
As it turns out, Plaza discovered a service that claimed it could marry someone within an hour. “And then I Googled it, and I found one hour marriage.com and then I called around 5pm and I said, Can you come in an hour and marry me in our yard? And he said, How about tomorrow? And I said, Well, that’s not what you’re advertising. And then he said, All right, I’ll come, but I’m in Alhambra, so you got to pay extra, and I’ll be there in two hours. And I said, sold.”
She further recounted the day, “And then True story, I ran across the street. We didn’t tell anybody we were doing it. We knew in two hours, we were getting married. My now husband went and picked up food from some restaurant because we had already ordered food. That was just another he almost missed the wedding because he had to wait so long for the order. And then I went to dandelion and I said, I’m getting married. Nobody knows if you could do a spell or tell me if this is a good idea, anything. I’d really like some help.”
“And so she went. I had just the thing. She went in her house, rummaged around, came out with a rosemary wreath that she gave me. She literally cackled, gave it to me. And then I created a very quick love altar in my yard, facts of our love, little stones, smoke, fire, things of that nature. And then the man from Alhambra showed up in a Hawaiian shirt with a briefcase, and I can’t remember a lot of it. It was fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure it’s legal,” she joked on the former daytime talk show.
Featured image credit: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jeff_Baena_%26_Aubrey_Plaza_01_(cropped).jpg
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