The Amazing Evolution of Aubrey Plaza 

I applaud Aubrey Plaza’s evolution as an actress and branching out to other typecasts outside her deadpan comedic roles, plus I lover her honesty on being typecasted in comedic roles.

She was great in legion.

I saw Adam West in an interview in the 1990’s. He said, “So, in this scene from the first episode, I’m standing there in my full Batman outfit, in a club where everyone else is dressed normally. The waiter wants to direct me to a private booth and I get to say the line, ‘I’ll just take this table over here. I don’t want to look conspicuous.’ and we all knew; me, the writers, the producers, the rest of the cast; if that line gets a laugh, then we’ll know people get it and we’ve got a season or two. If they don’t laugh, we’ve failed.” Well, like you said, he delivered the line with such deadpan aplomb, he was magnificent. And so beloved that his version of the caped crusader still gets referenced in the newer, darker, more serious iterations of Batman. I think it was only after his regular voice work on The Simpsons and Family Guy that people actually got what a great comedy performer he was. He could have been another Leslie Nielsen. But that boat has sailed and sunk.

The year where she hosted the 35th Independent Spirit Award was freaking great. Her awkward sense of humor to where she was making the audience uncomfortable and confused was pretty hilarious. If that was already good enough, I can imagine how good enough for her to host the Oscars

Her role in Legion was terrifying. She did a superb job.

Emily The Criminal is easily my favourite performance that she has ever given, definitely one of the most underrated movie of 2022. Aubrey was nothing short but brilliant in that movie, loved it so much. Ingrid Goes West was a good movie too, she and Elizabeth Olsen worked so well together 🙌

Honestly Scott Pilgrims anime showed how well she can still play the type that she was put into for so many years. But it was amusing to hear her as Eska when I watched Legend of Korra a decade ago.

I’m so glad you mentioned Emily the criminal. That movie genuinely surprised me. Didn’t even know Aubrey was in it going in but seeing her like that solidified her as a favorite

Aubrey really has ballooned and expanded in her career, being one of the big success from Parks & Rec, like your Chris Pratt's, Nick Offerman, and Adam Scott's. She's even done well in both varying side of acting, live action comedy and dramas from subtle, to out there R rated stories, to animation voice over, like returning to Scott Pilgrim, The Legend of Korra and The Simpsons. Hell, she even as a second big Marvel property down the way with Agatha. Plus, she got to buddy with Amy Pohler on her SNL hosting episode too.

Loved her in Legion. Her best role so far IMO.

I watched her in Legion as Shadow King and I've loved her ever since. Haters will look down on her, but as Shadow, she was PHENOMENAL. Underrated show, underrated actress. She was also pretty great in Ingrid Goes West.

1:09 Me: “Legion. Legion! Talk about Legion!!”

Her performance in Legion was absolutely riveting! Coming off the comedy band wagon, her innocent yet menacing portrayal threw me off completely. She proved she wasn't a one trick pony. Top notch performance in a bizzare and underrated show.

The Black Bear movie, which she produces, where they have basically 2 similar stories and you need to find out which one is the true story, I found it very interesting and a great performance from Plaza. She is just amazing on her last roles.

I really enjoyed her performance in the drama The White Lotus

Aubrey Plaza is one of my favorite things in the world. She is highly underrated and versatile.

A bit after P&R ended, she had a guest role on Criminal Minds playing a manipulative psychopath, and she was fantastic. Really impressed me when I saw it.

Mad respect for the 50% off code for my auto stroker.

I loved her in Life After Beth. It was hilarious seeing her playing a zombie carrying a stove on her back.

I think one other aspect about Plaza's acting that tends to go underappreciated is her voice over work. I mostly noticed this when I watched Scott Pilgrim Takes Off so I can't vouch for any other voice overs she's done but in that show she really showed off just how unhinged she can be with the unapologetic anime-esque rage she had on display returning to Julie, giving a bit more of a comic accurate take on the character. It really makes me want to see her do more voice acting going forward since she could have potential to be one of those rare actors that is exceptional in front of the camera and behind the microphone.

My favorite Aubrey Plaza role was the recurring character Cat Adams on Criminal Minds, circa 2016-2020. A sociopathic serial killer/assassin who enjoys playing mind games with regular character Dr. Spencer Reid. For instance, she drugs him, frames him for murder, then kidnaps his mother, and claims to be carrying his child. A totally sinister character with seemingly no humanity or redeeming qualities.

You know thinking about it, I think she'd knock being a bond girl out of the park.

I've met Aubrey before briefly (last year). She's the definition of chill. I'm so glad she's on the rise even after she's been popular for years and how she's rose above being type cast.

She did a good job in the 2nd season of White Lotus and as a SNL guest

I never watched Parks and Rec, so the first time I've seen her in a role was in Criminal Minds when she played mastermind hit woman Cat Adam's. Imagine my surprise whemi discovered her main role was a deadpan character in a comedy.

It doesn’t help when she even used to act like that in interviews

The popularity (and availability) of Parks and Rec seems to have been rather limited to the U.S., so internationally the baggage of being typed as a comedic actress simply wasn't there. Instead she appeared as an outstanding versatile young actress (who could also do comedy). I first saw her as assassin mastermind in Criminal Minds and was absolutely mesmerized by her amazing performance. And then Legion came out... What a masterpiece! I hope to see much more of her in roles that give her the chance to show her talent.

Ingrid Goes West is cool.

I agree with you re 'Emily the Criminal'. But I also think it's criminal that you didn't cover 2020's 'Black Bear', which really does demonstrate her acting chops. x

Totally underrated actress.

Mystery Team mentioned!

I honestly had no idea that Aubrey Plaza was in Parks and Rec, and that that's what got her popular. I first found out about her when Legion first started airing. I always thought she was amazing at playing the Shadow King. I still look back on her role in that show as one of the top ones I've seen, especially for a Marvel property. Always seemed like an actress who's a go big or go home kind of performance.

Emily the Criminal rules.

Aubrey is one of my celebrity crushes, purely for the fact she seems bonkers and I’m here for it !

just finished the first season of legion for the first time and she is AMAZING IN IT, the whole cast is but she is fantastic

I loved Aubrey since Parks and Rec (though I've seen her way earlier in Scott Pilgrim, I was pretty late to Parks), so her presence in a project is always a solid hint to watch it. After seeing Ingrid Goes West I was already convinced of her great acting talent, and Emily the Criminal solidified it. It was such a strong, but natural dramatic performance, no reliant on her comedy persona or recognition.

Aubrey's breakout for me was when she appeared on the show Legion on FX. Season 1 really took her to some interesting places

She was great in legion

I mean it’s her personality and it’s clearly got layers. It’s amazing how easily you can get pidgeon holed as an actor. It took me ages to shake off the goofball casting, and start to get taken seriously for dark stuff. But when it happens, so satisfying, and I’m only just starting out really. So, it’s good to see how you can choose your own path. No matter what level you’re playing at. Thanks for sharing x

I really like Aubrey Plaza playing the hitwoman Cat Adams in Criminal Minds. I love the back and forth she and Matthew Gray Gubler had in the episodes she was in.

great review

I still haven't caught ETC yet but when I saw the trailer I knew she had turned a new leaf and it was definitely going to be worth a watch to see her non-stereotypical performance.

Just finished watching Parks and rec and she was a favorite of mine

How do you not bring up her on criminal minds

Emily the Criminal. White Lotus. Black Bear. She definitely proved she has major acting chops

Loved her in Safety Not Guaranteed, but you didn't mention two of my favorites, 10 Years and The To Do List 😂

I loved her so much in Emily the Criminal. It was one of my favorite movies I saw last year.

Im still sad we never got that Daria movie...

Glad to hear that

Cool video. She was great in Black Bear too

First thing I ever saw her in was College Humor's Troopers series, where she played a Princess Leia knockoff. Back when I used to go to Alamo Drafthouse, I saw Ingrid Goes West there, and she and the director showed up when the flick ended and did an audience Q&A. That was really cool

back to back captain midnight videos? sign me up. Also I am always baffled by adam and eve sponsoring midnight. guess they find his videos sexy????? me too but ok

I'm kinda glad shes sorta stepping away from the 'I'm a weirdo' act. Emily the Criminal was a great performance of hers.

Happy Easter!

Another somewhat recent project was her Voice Work on the animated show Little Demon, the show itself was fairly generic but it was definitely enjoyable, I felt it showed she could have done better in a horror role if given something more to work with. Also Danny DeVito voiced Satan which was fun. I just googled it and apparently it’s kind of in a weird limbo, not cancelled but not really available anywhere which is sadly very common for newer adult animated shows these days after a season or two.

Great video! Have you seen Black Bear?

Commenting at the beginning hoping yo included some of her fantastic work on Legion and will come back when done lol

I loved her wood milk add, truly beautiful work😂

I have always really loved Aubry plaza, she was my favorite on parks & rec. I loved safety not guaranteed and Ingried goes west, but when I watched White Lotus I was seriously shocked by how good she was in it. The whole show is a lot of face acting and she was amazing!

In Leigon her role was actually a male role but she took on the role and made it her own and I think that was her first break away success from her typecasting.

Did not expect this video to be so interesting.

She’s one of my favorite actresses loved her ever since the Parks and Rec days

Her portrayal of a volatile character in the movie Black Bear needs to be acknowledged too.

Now that’s greatness

Thanks again

I'm surprised you never brought up Black Bear. Have you seen it? I'm curious what you thought of it

Man, I remember seeing her as the Princess on CollegeHumor's Troopers WAAAAAY back in the day.

You don’t want to get typecast too much when those roles die out.

The Happy Time Murders is INCREDIBLY GOOD.

This guy out here watching everything

Aubrey Plaza has an incredible role as a recurring character in the later seasons of Criminal Minds, and she's a major presence in my favorite episode of that whole show. Criminal Minds is a long time investment, but definitely worth the watch as an incredibly consistent procedural.

Loved her in White Lotus. I think both seasons so far have had several standout performances (shoutout to Murray Bartlett and Meghann Fahy) and all-around great acting and writing.

Phew, I was wondering if you were going to get to Emily the Criminal. I liked that movie and how she didn't play the same character.

Loved her in Emily The Criminal 😍😍

I’m surprised you didn’t mention Black Bear. Great movie and she got to show off her skills in new ways in it.

She was fantastic in White lotus

Hey random comment not related to video, but I just saw that it is Tim Curry’s birthday today and I thought “that would be an awesomely interesting video to watch by captain midnight”

I also loved her in Black Bear, a small but very interesting film.

Nobody else mentioning how weird it is to get two captainmidnight videos so close together?

I acutally first saw her in Legion. What a great performance. So great in fact, they retrofitted the role to her, because she needed to bei shown off more, her talent, I mean. But then I saw her in Parks and Rec after and she was just as cool, albeit in a completely different way.

i would dispute the idea that the child's play reboot was "uninspired"...it just wasn't inspired by any of the things that inspired the original. reimagining chucky as an AI that goes wrong when it gets bad input without adequate safety controls is, like...really a relevant story to tell, and it's really well done.

Her role in the internet psychological horror CENTER JENNY is amazing too. It's an underrated beginning to her career lol

Ok, gotta watch Legion now!

I'll be honest, I've been sitting on Emily the Criminal because I wasn't sure about Plaza's performance but after watching this, I will definitely give it a shot.

she thoughtout the ages she been a successful actress I love watching her in every thing

Don’t forgot her voice acting too. Her character on Korra and Grumpy cat feel like they were designed around her voice .

She is unbelievably good in Legion

She was also really good in *Spin Me Round*

I love Aubrey Plaza and her role in Legion was so damn great!!

She looks very close to one of my exes and this made me interested in her in Parks and Rec. Her good acting and comedic ability kept me interested but her evolution into other genres made me love her. I love seeing her and will never get tired of her

Pre Oppenheimer Josh Hartnett? Isn't that just post Black Hawk Down and the masterwork Lucky Number Slevin Josh Hartnett? It's not like he was just discovered in 2023.

I wanna see Adam West play Batman in the new film. Kids will want to see the original Batman.

I would love to know more about studio comedies and what happened to them.

She was so good in Legion

she was amazing in the white lotus!

Man I really did love her in Emily The Criminal!

Emily the Criminal was one hell of a movie. I remember seeing it in theaters with only a little fore-knowledge and being caught off guard a bit. Like, I was EXPECTING it to be more comedic, but it just never dipped in that direction. But it also showcased Aubrey being kind of a badass, but with this absolute "cornered raccoon" energy. Wonderful blend of panic and spite. It would be interesting to see her in some more genres/action stuff, but it does feel like she needs roles with a little more meat on the bone than many of them offer.

Audrey plaza was great in safety not guaranteed, Mike and Dave, Ingrid goes west and Emily the Criminal. Look forward to her future roles.

Emily, the criminal, is one of those underrated gems. She was fantastic in that movie.

Emily the criminal was a fun time