Aubrey Plaza's parents and two sisters have stayed close through a hard year
Aubrey Plaza's parents are David Plaza, a Puerto Rican-American financial advisor, and Bernadette Plaza, an Irish-American attorney. She has two younger sisters, Natalie and Renee. The family has been a steady source of support during one of the hardest stretches of Aubrey's life.
Source: Getty Images
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Aubrey Plaza's profile
Full name | Aubrey Christina Plaza |
Date of birth | 26 June 1984 |
Age | 42 |
Place of birth | Wilmington, Delaware, USA |
Nationality | American |
Profession | Actress, comedian, producer |
Key takeaways
- Aubrey's father, David Plaza, is of Puerto Rican descent; her mother, Bernadette, has Irish and English roots.
- Her mixed background makes her half-Latina. She has spoken openly about identifying with her Puerto Rican heritage.
- She has two younger sisters: Natalie Plaza (born 1991) and Renee Plaza (born 1996).
- Natalie works as a financial advisor; Renee is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology.
- The family rallied around Aubrey after the January 2025 death of her husband, director Jeff Baena.
Where are Aubrey Plaza's parents from?
Aubrey was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the daughter of Bernadette, an attorney, and David Plaza, a financial advisor. Her father, David Plaza, is Puerto Rican. Both her parents came from the island, while her mother is Irish-American.
Her paternal grandfather was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and moved to the mainland US when she was 17 years old. Plaza's maternal (adoptive) grandparents were from Ireland.
Aubrey's parents were 19 when she was born and were attending night school. Plaza said she was inspired by their work ethic as they worked various jobs to make ends meet and attended night school. The efforts to seek education paid off for her parents as her mother became an attorney, and her father a financial advisor.
David Plaza
Aubrey Plaza's father, David, works as a managing director and wealth management advisor at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. David has been working in the finance sector since 1986. He was recognised by the Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors 2019 list as well as Barron's America's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors 2019 ranking.
David is a supportive father who sometimes accompanies his daughter to red-carpet events. After Aubrey's parents divorced, David remarried a woman named Mihaela.
Bernadette Plaza
Bernadette is a lawyer at Goldfein & Joseph and was, at some point, a Delaware deputy attorney general. Aubrey has credited her mother's ambition as a formative influence. She has also said she learned her mother's famous "death stare", once joking, "Happy happy day to my mother who taught me the death stare."
Is Aubrey Plaza mixed? What is her ethnicity?
Yes, Aubrey Plaza is mixed-race. Her father is Puerto Rican, with Spanish, African, and Indigenous/Taíno ancestry, while her mother has German, English, Irish, and Swiss-German heritage.
A 23andMe DNA test showed her genetic ancestry to be approximately 30 - 34%. Iberian (Spanish), 30 - 31% Irish, 8 - 9.9% West African, 7% Native American (Indigenous), and 0.6% Ashkenazi Jewish.
Growing up in a mostly white suburb, her identity was often questioned. People saw a light-skinned woman with the last name Plaza and did not know what to do with her.
She has been candid about leading with her Latino roots. As she told interviewers,
I was like the only diverse kid in my high school, and I'm half-Puerto Rican. But yeah, I have a huge family and tonnes of cousins in Puerto Rico.
Does Aubrey Plaza have sisters? Who are they?
Born on 26 June 1984, Aubrey is the oldest child in her family. Her sister Natalie was born seven years later in 1991, followed by their youngest sister, Renee, in 1996. Despite a noticeable age gap, the three have always been extremely tight-knit, with Aubrey taking her role as the eccentric older sister to heart.
Natalie Plaza
Source: Getty Images
Natalie Michelle Plaza was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Unlike Aubrey, Natalie didn't pursue Hollywood; instead, she took after their father and built a successful career in wealth management as a financial advisor.
She remains close to the entertainment industry, however, often attending major events to support Aubrey, including the January 2024 Emmys, where the two sweetly walked the red carpet hand-in-hand.
Aubrey has even admitted to Latina.com that Natalie’s deadpan personality directly inspired her iconic role as April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation (April's character even has a sister named Natalie). In her personal life, Natalie is openly gay and married to filmmaker/actor Zoë Worth on 1 June 2023.
Renee Plaza
Source: Getty Images
The youngest Plaza sister, Renee, chose the medical route. After spending her early twenties as a doctoral candidate at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, she recently completed her PhD in clinical psychology in mid-2025.
Like Natalie, Renee frequently shows up to support her big sister’s film premieres. During a 2021 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Renee laughed about how Aubrey's quirky antics, like driving her to school in a bright red Mini Cooper while wearing a football helmet, brought a welcome level of "normalcy disruption" to her childhood.
The family during a difficult year
Aubrey Plaza spoke out after the death of her husband, director Jeff Baena. In a statement, Plaza and the Baena and Stern family called his death "an unimaginable tragedy". The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed Baena died by suicide on 3 January 2025. He was 47.
Plaza later appeared on Amy Poehler's Good Hang podcast on her promotional tour for the Ethan Coen dark comedy Honey Don't! and opened up publicly for the first time about losing her husband. She described grief as "always there", suggesting she has leaned on close relationships to cope.
Throughout this period, her family has remained present. Despite their different career paths, the Plaza sisters maintain a supportive relationship, frequently sharing moments on social media.
FAQs
- Where is Aubrey Plaza's dad from? David Plaza is a Puerto Rican-American from Philadelphia. Both of his parents emigrated from Puerto Rico.
- What is Aubrey Plaza's ethnicity? Aubrey Plaza's ethnicity is half Puerto Rican and half Irish. She also has some Native American (Taíno) and Basque heritage.
- What does Aubrey Plaza's mother do? Bernadette Plaza is a lawyer at Goldfein & Joseph and was a Delaware deputy attorney general.
- What do Aubrey Plaza's sisters do for work? Natalie, seven years younger, works as a financial advisor, while Renee, twelve years younger, is pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology.
- Did Aubrey Plaza grow up speaking Spanish? Not fluently. Her grandfather came over from Puerto Rico and raised his kids speaking English so that it would be easier for them to assimilate; her family speaks to her in Spanish, and she responds in English.
We also highlighted facts about Aubrey Plaza's husband, filmmaker Jeff Baena, who passed away in January 2025 following their quiet separation in September 2024. This poignant chapter in Plaza's life sheds light on her journey from a cherished marriage to navigating a new relationship and motherhood while honouring Baena's memory.
Source: Legit.ng
