Aubrey Plaza is expecting her first child with partner Christopher Abbott.
The news was revealed in a People exclusive on Wednesday, with a source saying the baby is due in the fall.
Though it’s unclear how long they’ve been dating, the pair recently teamed up on the off-Broadway revival of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, as well as the 2020 film Black Bear. Abbott, best known for his role in Girls, also featured in last year’s The Testament of Ann Lee.
The 40-year-old is currently starring on Broadway in the revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman alongside Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf.
Plaza, of Parks and Recreation and The White Lotus fame, was headline news in January 2025 when her husband, screenwriter Jeff Baena, died by suicide. The couple had reportedly been separated since September 2024.
The actress, 41, got candid with Parks and Rec co-star Amy Poehler on the latter’s Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast in August last year. “I’m in this very present moment I’m happy to be with you,” Plaza said as they broached the subject of Baena’s death. “Overall I’m here and I’m functioning and I feel really grateful to be moving through the world. I’m OK. But, you know, it’s a daily struggle, obviously.”
“This is a really dumb analogy,” she continued, “and it was kind of a joke but I actually mean it, did you see that movie The Gorge? It’s like an alien movie with Miles Teller. In the movie, there’s a cliff on one side and a cliff on the other side and there’s a gorge [in the middle] with monster people that are trying to get them.”
She said: “I watched it, I was like, ‘That what this feels like, what my grief is like — or what grief could be like.’ At all times there’s like a giant ocean of awfulness that’s like right there, and I can see it. And sometimes, I just want to dive into it and be in it. And then sometimes, I just look at it. And then sometimes, I’m just trying to get away from it. But it’s always there. It’s just always there. And the monster people are trying to get me.”
Baena and Plaza had been dating for three years before she starred in his 2014 directorial debut, Life After Beth, which he also wrote. It was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. They collaborated on five films, including The End of Love (2012), The Little Hours (2017) and Spin Me Round (2022).
At Saturday Night Live‘s 50th anniversary special, she wore a tie-dye shirt in tribute to her late husband. The actress previously spoke about how she and Baena wore tie-dye for their nuptials.
