Aubrey Plaza has shared advice from her grandmother about resilience, pain, and coping with grief, months after the tragic passing away of her husband, filmmaker Jeff Baena, at age 47.
Speaking to Today on October 8, 2025, to promote her new children’s book Luna and the Witch Throw a Halloween Party, the 41-year-old stated, the story was inspired by her grandmother, Margie.
The White Lotus actress said, “She taught me from a young age that life is a party and no matter what happens, we have to have fun and move forward.”
While describing the book, the Legion alum said that the book also honors “the witchy women” who raised her.
For those unversed, Plaza and Baena started dating in 2021, and exchanged the wedding vows the same year.
Beana claimed his own life by committing suicide.
Plaza publicly opened up about her grief in August on Amy Poehler’s podcast Good Hang, saying, “I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I’m okay, but it’s a daily struggle,” she added.
Furthermore, the Parks and Recreation actress compared her experience with grief to an “ocean of awfulness” — something always present but shifting in intensity.
Plaza’s latest book, co-written with Dan Murphy, follows their earlier titles The Legend of the Christmas Witch and The Return of the Christmas Witch.
