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Aubrey Plaza said on the Today show that her grandmother, Margie, “taught me from a very young age that life is a party and no matter what happens, we have to have fun and move forward”Plaza’s husband, Jeff Baena, died by suicide at 47 in January; she has only spoken directly about the impact of his death on Amy Poehler’s podcast in AugustPlaza is currently promoting her new children’s novel, Luna and the Witch Throw a Halloween Party

Aubrey Plaza is sharing words of wisdom from her grandmother about moving forward. The comments come more than nine months after her husband, Jeff Baena, died at 47.

On Wednesday, Oct. 8, Plaza, 41, appeared on Today to promote her third children’s novel, the Halloween-themed Luna and the Witch Throw a Halloween Party. During her interview with Savannah Guthrie, the co-anchor noted that the Parks & Recreation alum’s book is “an homage” to Plaza’s grandmother.

“Shoutout to my grandma, Margie,” Plaza responded. “She taught me from a very young age that life is a party and no matter what happens, we have to have fun and move forward, and so I think this book was inspired by that.”

“I think on both sides of my family, I have a lot of witchy women that raised me, so this is an homage to all the women in my life,” she added.

Aubrey Plaza on ‘Today’ on Oct. 8, 2025.

NBC

While Plaza did not specify whether she ties her grandmother’s advice to her grief related to her husband, the actress is only months removed from the sudden death of the filmmaker, whom she began dating in 2021. PEOPLE confirmed that the couple had married in 2021 after she referred to Baena as her “darling husband” in an Instagram post.

The Los Angeles Medical Examiner ruled Baena’s death a suicide in January; he and Plaza were separated at the time of his death. Plaza and Baena’s family described it as “an unimaginable tragedy” in a statement asking for privacy issued three days later.

Plaza opened up about her grief in the wake of Baena’s death for the first time publicly when she appeared on Amy Poehler‘s podcast Good Hang back in August. 

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From Left: Jeff Baena and Aubrey Plaza in Silverlake, Calif. on May 21, 2016.

David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty

“Overall, I’m here and I’m functioning. I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I think I’m okay, but it’s like a daily struggle, obviously,” she said at the time.

During that podcast appearance, Plaza also compared her experience with grief to the  Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy Apple TV+ movie The Gorge. “I swear when I watched it, I was like that feels like what my grief is like … or what grief could be like,” she explained.

The Agatha All Along actress added, “At all times there’s like a giant ocean of awfulness, that’s like right there and I can see it. Sometimes I just want to dive into it, and just, like, be in it. Then sometimes I just look at it, and sometimes I try to get away from it. But it’s always there.”

Plaza’s book Luna and the Witch Throw a Halloween Party, which she cowrote with author Dan Murphy, is available for purchase now. She and Murphy previously authored two other children’s books, The Legend of the Christmas Witch and The Return of the Christmas Witch.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.